Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[beerfly]

We've been hoping to get it out, but RWG had some bugs crop up that needed to be fixed. Now the good news, or amazing news is that Robert was able to use the GPU to do some of the work generating terrain and reduced it from 30 minutes to 1 minute (for the terrain and biome info) on an 8k map. If it takes much longer you'll probably see a 17.3 drop without RWG changes with that delayed until 17.4+.

 

We're experimenting with procedural splat maps so that might solve some A18 rwg issues we were going to deal with.

 

Go boys, sounds better everytime.

[beerfly]

Just tossing my 10 cents. Maybe I can learn enough coding to mod it in myself.

 

You`d better start learning how to, the Matrix will have you, and you will always be called at least nerd

[Sirillion]

Its kinda driving me crazy that a lvl 1 item can't hold any mods and a lvl 6 item can hold 5. Can it be changed so a lvl 1 item holds 1 mod and a lvl 6 item holds 6 mods? I think that makes more sense to me.

 

I for one would like to see a change to this where instead of saying that level 1 can have 1 slot and so on, I would rather all guns have a basic amount of “easy” to understand mods where maybe the silencer and extended mag could be the basics for instance.

 

Then more advanced mods like springs and triggers could be gated by books/perks that you need to study to understand the mechanics behind it and then unlock more slots.

 

I would also like to see specific slots locked to specific mods, like the tools for workstations. So that all scopes and sights lock to one slot, barrels and silencers to one and so on.

[meganoth]

I guess I also wasn't to precise before... My real nitpick, is actually with the type of machete depicted in the game.

This is of the knife kind:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]28148[/ATTACH]

 

Only that that isn't a machete, it is a Kukri

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukri

[Lonestarcanuck]

Flat roads would mean a flat world for the most part, no thanks.

 

I am not a "Flat Earther" I meant roads that did not have massive drop offs or breaks or roads that end in a rock/hill/cliff (Wile E. Coyote style)

[Gareee]

We've been hoping to get it out, but RWG had some bugs crop up that needed to be fixed. Now the good news, or amazing news is that Robert was able to use the GPU to do some of the work generating terrain and reduced it from 30 minutes to 1 minute (for the terrain and biome info) on an 8k map. If it takes much longer you'll probably see a 17.3 drop without RWG changes with that delayed until 17.4+.

 

We're experimenting with procedural splat maps so that might solve some A18 rwg issues we were going to deal with.

 

Holy crap, thats some serious optimisation! I hope you recognised his accomplishement in some fashion.

[Menace312]

Only that that isn't a machete, it is a Kukri

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukri

 

Well, this greb you gotta take up with Madmole.

I didnt design the image used for the machete ingame...

[PurgatoryWolf]

I am not a "Flat Earther" I meant roads that did not have massive drop offs or breaks or roads that end in a rock/hill/cliff (Wile E. Coyote style)

 

You mean you don't like the spaghetti roads? Nothing like taking a nice country drive and then careening over the edge as the road suddenly takes a vertical 90 degree drop, or a smashing your face into the pavement as the road juts up at a 60 degree angle in 3 different directions.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Level 1 is such trash it can't be improved.

 

Wish we could still combine items to repair or make them better. might make it a little harder to code but like 4 lvl 1 pistols could make a level 2, and 4 level 2 could make a 3 or something like that.

[BadabingbadaBOOMSDAY!]

Give 17.3 Experimental update....please

[madmole]

I am not a "Flat Earther" I meant roads that did not have massive drop offs or breaks or roads that end in a rock/hill/cliff (Wile E. Coyote style)

 

Oh I'm pretty sure that will be fixed.

[madmole]

Holy crap, thats some serious optimisation! I hope you recognised his accomplishement in some fashion.

 

He will be pimp of the week I think.

[Guppycur]

Oh I'm pretty sure that will be fixed.

 

That's a shame. I'd have thunk nuclear bombs would upheave some roads...

[AlyssaFaden]

MadMole, Roland, Pimps: just want to say thanks for this thread and for engaging with the players. Not all devs do this and it's bloody wonderful. Cheers. And Roland, you're alright, man: you run a tight ship. Much respect.

[A Nice Cup of Tea]

I am not a "Flat Earther" I meant roads that did not have massive drop offs or breaks or roads that end in a rock/hill/cliff (Wile E. Coyote style)

 

I might be in a minority, but I like the broken roads with drop-offs and things. They go well with the ruined buildings, making it seem like there's been seismic activity as part of the apocalypse.

[Roland]

I might be in a minority, but I like the broken roads with drop-offs and things. They go well with the ruined buildings, making it seem like there's been seismic activity as part of the apocalypse.

 

I agree with you. But I’m also in a subset of crazy that liked the Swiss cheese terrain you could get from zombie digging behavior. I loved seeing their impact on the destructible terrain and it made them seem alien or antlike in a way.

[madmole]

That's a shame. I'd have thunk nuclear bombs would upheave some roads...

 

Thats easy to do if intended. Roads shouldn't be paved right into a cliff side though.

[Aldranon]

That's a shame. I'd have thunk nuclear bombs would upheave some roads...

 

The usual airburst detonation (most bang for the buck you could say), has a flattening effect. Very few places would need a surface or sub-surface detonation except for NORAD and the Moscow subway system (if the pentagon wanted to be a butt about it).

 

 

But I guess if nukes are airborne, being an a-hole is EXACTLY what you want to be.

[DaVegaNL]

I like roads how i like women; flat.

 

 

 

.. wait. That didn't work.

[Cazmyr]

I like roads how i like women; flat.

 

 

 

.. wait. That didn't work.

 

I think what you meant to say is:

 

I like my women how I like my rocks; with cleavage.

[Damocles]

Roads avoiding obstacles is not all that hard to implement. But at one point there needs to be some kind of cuts and ramps, altering the terrain. The question is always how much they should do it.

(a simple gravel country road would not do it very much - ending up pretty bumpy, .... an interstate would cut a hill in half if needed)

[Lonestarcanuck]

Thats easy to do if intended. Roads shouldn't be paved right into a cliff side though.

 

having some sort of RWG Event that makes craters in roads or terrain in general is interesting twice. but I agree a road into a rockface or drops into a lake that has no visible broken bridge that is not normal.

 

So backstory - did the non-Zs use Nukes or try and rid the world of the zombie, I would think human kind would have used thermal bombs and not nukes and since Zs can't even open a door I don't see them using launch codes

 

Backstory should predict Terrain look and feel.

[The Gronk]

Roads avoiding obstacles is not all that hard to implement. But at one point there needs to be some kind of cuts and ramps, altering the terrain. The question is always how much they should do it.

(a simple gravel country road would not do it very much - ending up pretty bumpy, .... an interstate would cut a hill in half if needed)

 

This is true. Roads are relatively easy to implement but avoiding crazy results can be... not so easy. There's also pathing to consider, a large road will curve around a hill if possible but a sharp turn on a motorway is a pretty bad idea. Although there are few hard and fast rules we don't tend to make paved roads over a 40 degree gradient. Footpaths are even more complicated, there are a few routes up Scafell Pike which are literally short cliff climbs.

 

The horrible part? I actually like solving these problems :-)

[DaVegaNL]

I think what you meant to say is:

 

I like my women how I like my rocks; with cleavage.

 

Lol, that too, obviously!

[dcsobral]

No that probably won't happen. Mods are enough damage inflation along with the perks adding damage now instead of the attribute. This is going to play great, just because your good at perception doesn't give you max damage with every perk it governs now, only the ones you spec into.

 

The alternative perspective, however, is that mods should not add damage. Games4kickz put it this way, before going back to a16 because he was bored with a17: "Mods shouldn't add damage just because you put them in your weapon. They should add specific effects, like setting zombies on fire, or slowing them down. Improved damage should come from improved quality." (paraphrased)

 

I'm not saying that's how the game should work, but that mods add to damage is a choice, not a required mechanic. We can have mods *and* not have them add extra damage, which would allow extra damage to come (again) from quality.

[Damocles]

This is true. Roads are relatively easy to implement but avoiding crazy results can be... not so easy. There's also pathing to consider, a large road will curve around a hill if possible but a sharp turn on a motorway is a pretty bad idea. Although there are few hard and fast rules we don't tend to make paved roads over a 40 degree gradient. Footpaths are even more complicated, there are a few routes up Scafell Pike which are literally short cliff climbs.

 

The horrible part? I actually like solving these problems :-)

 

I would also have to implement different methods for roads in my generator (highways, country roads, wilderness trails) with varying degrees of allowed "curving", degrees of slopes and the amount of terrain-flattening.

 

Its quite fun to implement actually.

 

Roads really bring a lot to the landscape. Makes it feel people actually lived there before.