Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[madmole]

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

 

Looks like fubar is from WWII.

 

Weird that the wikipedia list doesn't include, "lifer". That was already widely known & used in the early 80's.

I remember walking the motorpool on a Friday afternoon with the battalion Command Sergeant Major (I'd been temp assigned as his driver) when a paper coffee cup rolled by (windy). I looked at the cup then looked at the CSM. He was giving me the eye, so I ran and fetched it. Came back and made the mistake of muttering, "damn lifer juice..". CSM says, "What did you say!" Me = "err... mumble mumble..." CSM, "WHaT IS 'LiFer Juice' Sergeant!?" I try to get away with, "Coffee Sergeant Major. Coffee." CSM <glaring>, "and lifer...?" Me (thinking oh crap!), "Well, that's a Lazy Incompetent F+++er Expecting Retirement, Sergeant Major."

...

we walk a bit more

...

CSM casually says, "I like coffee."

...

couple more steps

...

CSM, "have since Viet Nam."

...

me dying by inches

...

CSM, "Am I a lifer?"

...

Me, some incoherent babbling...

---

Next morning I report to the CSM, ask if he has anything for me, 'not right now'. Me, "I'll head out and do a PMCS then.". I'm a few steps from freedom, across most of the headquarters office space and I hear the CSM, quite loudly say, "Machete, get me a fresh cup of lifer juce before you leave!"

Dead silence for two seconds then the Colonel starts laughing and everyone else starts.

Right, most phrases are probably originated a long time before they become mainstream. I am pretty sure it got popular in my area when the movie Tango and Cash came out, everyone was saying it for a while then it went stale pretty fast.

[madmole]

I updated the main post:

 

New Dynamic Music System (DMS)

Its been in the works for a long time and the first version is finally here. We now have a dynamic music system that plays a variety of tracks and can combine them so you never hear the same song twice. Right now they only play during exploration or a non combat moments. Future updates will detect your threat level and introduce combat music. Users can disable the system entirely or define what percentage of the day music can play for and adjust the music volume.

[beerfly]

I updated the main post:

 

New Dynamic Music System (DMS)

Its been in the works for a long time and the first version is finally here. We now have a dynamic music system that plays a variety of tracks and can combine them so you never hear the same song twice. Right now they only play during exploration or a non combat moments. Future updates will detect your threat level and introduce combat music. Users can disable the system entirely or define what percentage of the day music can play for and adjust the music volume.

 

This is something I am waiting for ..ages, since you told it a couple alphas ago (or more). Good job guys !

 

Any squeeky violin noises in some cases would be awesome.

[Demonoid74]

Well FUBAR is always better then BOHICA...

Learned lots of colorful terms from my Vietnam drill sergeant father growing up...

[Perlin_Worm]

Can we swap out the tracks with some AC/DC?

[Sirillion]

Not without a bunch of work. Its a block which is part of the world. One version is the broken one the other is the fixed one. I don't see any value in it either, you can craft your own work bench, unless you like to play as a nomad?

 

The right way to do it would be to just have random events that break them again, and if its broken, sure a fix it quest would be first come first serve.

 

Would be cool though...

 

To be honest I would like to see more love for the traders and trade posts. I am not sure if you are planning on adding factions or something similar at some point but having the trade posts be at the heart of that could be very cool.

 

What if the traders could be some kind of world boss, with defenses and maybe some helpers if attacked and damaged beyond a certain threshold? And it should be such an hard encounter it would be near impossible to do alone on a maxed out character. And every trader has some uniqueness to his abilities in battle, like one spawns some guards, another a pack of hounds, then one simply knocks you out and throw you out of the trade post...that is if he can catch you.

 

I would also love to see more npc’s in the trader stations. Maybe a hillbilly kinda type that tends to the crops and works on an old truck that could stand between the trailer and the fence, I picture an old type American pickup truck, light blueish with rust and dents.

 

And maybe a motherly kind of type inside the building that could run it as an inn, where you could pay for lodging, also on horde nights but then with an insane price tag for the added defenses and a salty trader that yells at you if not performing well enough in the defense of the trader station during an enormous horde. Maybe with the possibility to man heavy stationary guns (M-60) on the walls as something of a mini game kinda thing. You would have to participate during horde night of course, or risk getting booted during.

 

I would really feel the added immersion of having "life" in a trade post. A trade post could have 3-4 npc’s in addition to the trader himself. And each could have their own quest lines that could lead you into danger and glorious rewards. Things like item retrieval, kill someone turned zombie to put them to rest(a dear one from before the outbreak), scavenge for supplies(different types, medical, food, drink etc) and crafting missions spring to mind. Could even have different rewards for different outcomes. Like a crafting missions where they need shovels. Craft 5 shovels. Stone brings this reward, iron another and steel a third and best option reward.

 

Or even protection missions, protecting the trade post from bandits outposts nearby or bandit raids. And transport missions to move supplies between the different trade posts within the same faction.

 

And speaking of factions. No faction change should make permanent damage and everything can be rectified, it just takes longer, and you would have to side when factions are in conflict. + with one gives - with another. The factions having some kind of small hub city, shanty town style, from where they control their traders / trade posts and routes could also be a nice addition.

 

And say you actually manage to kill the trader and his helpers, and that is a mission from the faction you support. When the battle is done, you would have to go back to where you got the kill mission and then protect a caravan of people that move towards the trader station to take it over. This could be a timed event where the faction whose trader station you just wiped out catch wind and also dispatch a caravan to go take the station back. The choice is yours, stop the caravan by killing it off or protect your caravan and risk getting there too late.

 

This would also open up for some new quest events with helping rebuilding the trade post for the new trader. Like gathering wood and crafting wood logs for the fences. Gathering scrap, fixing up the generator and workstations. Finding schematics and soldering tools to fix the vending machines...

 

...but I ramble on ... the question was really: Will there be factions?

[Odetta]

I updated the main post:

 

New Dynamic Music System (DMS)

Its been in the works for a long time and the first version is finally here. We now have a dynamic music system that plays a variety of tracks and can combine them so you never hear the same song twice. Right now they only play during exploration or a non combat moments. Future updates will detect your threat level and introduce combat music. Users can disable the system entirely or define what percentage of the day music can play for and adjust the music volume.

 

Your stock just went up 212%

[beerfly]

Your stock just went up 212%

 

It is 291% now and rising.

[madmole]

Can we swap out the tracks with some AC/DC?

 

I always wanted a cd player of sorts you could find and load music from disk to play sound at your base.

[beerfly]

I always wanted a cd player of sorts you could find and load music from disk to play sound at your base.

 

You don`t know it yet, but you will do it in the future. And having the option to change your buddy`s playlist would be just the best. Ingame.

[SnowDog1942]

I updated the main post:

 

New Dynamic Music System (DMS)

Its been in the works for a long time and the first version is finally here. We now have a dynamic music system that plays a variety of tracks and can combine them so you never hear the same song twice. Right now they only play during exploration or a non combat moments. Future updates will detect your threat level and introduce combat music. Users can disable the system entirely or define what percentage of the day music can play for and adjust the music volume.

 

At a cost of how many FPS ? Im onboard if the answer is 0.

[Damocles]

Making an escort quest for a character that leads the path is way simpler than a companion that follows the player everywhere.

Especially if the NPC is choosing a path that avoids POIs, and has some terrain awareness.

 

If there are no complex POIs in the path, it would cut down a lot on the complexities involved with them.

Dynamically creating a terrain aware path (avoiding cliffs, lakes, canyons) is also relatively easy.

 

The short distance pathing does not even require A* in the open landscape then, just a simple obstacle avoidance.

In the end, the open terrain is relatively simple, the characters can basically traverse any part of it, and just need to avoid small obstacles like trees and boulders.

 

The question is how that NPC would handle zombies. That could range from a simple "cowering position" where the player needs to defend the NPC (simple mechanic) to a dynamic involvement in battle (harder to do), or simply running off to a position further down the intended path.

 

If the player leaves the NPCs, that NPC could just walk to the next "waypoint" on the path, awaiting for the player to catch up.

After a timeout the mission is considered abandoned.

 

Overall, games like "Gothic" managed to do those type of escort missions 20 years ago. And the dynamic characteristics of the gameworld are only as much as a factor, as the paths chosen will get into them.

[Weazelsun]

Making an escort quest for a character that leads the path is way simpler than a companion that follows the player everywhere.

Especially if the NPC is choosing a path that avoids POIs, and has some terrain awareness.

 

If there are no complex POIs in the path, it would cut down a lot on the complexities involved with them.

Dynamically creating a terrain aware path (avoiding cliffs, lakes, canyons) is also relatively easy.

 

The short distance pathing does not even require A* in the open landscape then, just a simple obstacle avoidance.

In the end, the open terrain is relatively simple, the characters can basically traverse any part of it, and just need to avoid small obstacles like trees and boulders.

 

The question is how that NPC would handle zombies. That could range from a simple "cowering position" where the player needs to defend the NPC (simple mechanic) to a dynamic involvement in battle (harder to do), or simply running off to a position further down the intended path.

 

If the player leaves the NPCs, that NPC could just walk to the next "waypoint" on the path, awaiting for the player to catch up.

After a timeout the mission is considered abandoned.

 

Overall, games like "Gothic" managed to do those type of escort missions 20 years ago. And the dynamic characteristics of the gameworld are only as much as a factor, as the paths chosen will get into them.

 

Why, didn't think of that? lol. This actually seems more feasible when since the POI's are built like dungeons. The only drawback to these though what happens if a player destroys part of the path? Will the NPC be able to complete it.

[Demonoid74]

I always wanted a cd player of sorts you could find and load music from disk to play sound at your base.

 

Now that would be cool to have in game...something else to keep looting , searching for that certain piece of music you want...doesn't make you more powerful or provide any type of progression...but its something you want to have . I would be all for that

[FA_Q2]

Not without a bunch of work. Its a block which is part of the world. One version is the broken one the other is the fixed one. I don't see any value in it either, you can craft your own work bench, unless you like to play as a nomad?

 

The right way to do it would be to just have random events that break them again, and if its broken, sure a fix it quest would be first come first serve.

 

Not a bad solution. Have it on a timer and not a 'broken' mechanic. Rather a permission.

 

Go to trader and as a reward for a certain quest, you are allowed to use his workstations for X days. The cool thing about this as it can open a different playstyle altogether where you can craft but do not need to perk/build any workstations. A new challenge.

[AtomicUs5000]

Not a bad solution. Have it on a timer and not a 'broken' mechanic. Rather a permission.

 

Go to trader and as a reward for a certain quest, you are allowed to use his workstations for X days. The cool thing about this as it can open a different playstyle altogether where you can craft but do not need to perk/build any workstations. A new challenge.

 

Another possibility instead of a timer, is just wear and tear from normal usage.

[Ti2xGr]

A few requests -

 

2 block doors (like the jail door was), a garage door tall enough...for the truck. The ability to fully rotate the drawbridge again (made a decent door).

I assume the ability for glass blocks to hold water is still in the works.

Will be able to make all the extra blocks in game at some point instead of having to spawn them in via. Creative mode. Decorating and detailing the base is a great way to personalize.

I really miss light fixture options. I assume they are coming back in one of the future updates.

I've been messing around in the files to tweak bullet ammo possibilities without affecting the rest of the loot (I don't need 5,000 feathers). The ability to tweak the loot levels of items without affecting others would be great via. a menu system would be a nice extra.

[Kalex]

Well duh, anyone born before 2000 should probably knows what fubar means. I remember when Kurt Russell coined the phrase.

 

What I meant why does he think the zombies AI is fubar?

 

Kurt Russell didn't coin the phrase. It has been used in the military for *long* before Kurt Russell did any acting.

 

(yes I am playing catch-up today)

[ogre92]

Not without a bunch of work. Its a block which is part of the world. One version is the broken one the other is the fixed one. I don't see any value in it either, you can craft your own work bench, unless you like to play as a nomad?

 

The right way to do it would be to just have random events that break them again, and if its broken, sure a fix it quest would be first come first serve.

 

Another thought would be to just give the player completing the quest a workbench they can place as the reward for the quest. You leave the broken bench in place in the vendor and the player gets one for their base. Maybe the quest only pops for vendors who have the "broken" bench or it's a random quest you get from any vendor once you hit a specific quest Tier? Maybe each bench type repair quest is given by certain vendors, say Jen gives the chem station and Rekt gives the forge.

[Lonestarcanuck]

you might want to look at the Party system. you can have a level 1 join up with several high level players and get 10-20 levels in on horde night.

 

I tested this level 5(me) with 4 level 80-120 players and I got to level 20 and another 10 levels the next BM.

 

maybe allow a parameter in config for servers like MAXPartyLevelSpread = X or do like WOW does and diminish XP as the level between players increases.

[Demonoid74]

you might want to look at the Party system. you can have a level 1 join up with several high level players and get 10-20 levels in on horde night.

 

I tested this level 5(me) with 4 level 80-120 players and I got to level 20 and another 10 levels the next BM.

 

maybe allow a parameter in config for servers like MAXPartyLevelSpread = X or do like WOW does and diminish XP as the level between players increases.

 

or do like Everquest did and if you were 9+ levels lower then the highest level in the group , you got Zero exps…

so a 41 could group with a level 50 and still get exps and so on...

[Grue]

Harvested a deer and boar after decapitating the heads. I can also still harvest after dismemberment hits on a corpse.

 

For me, since I got the headshot perk, they are completely disappearing after being shot in the head. No corpse to harvest.

 

This has happened with vultures, dogs, wolves, dire wolves, pigs and even Grace thus far.

 

Describe FUBAR? I think A1-16 was fubar, now it is really great pathing and much improved.

 

They no longer act even remotely like zombies, they are well-organized demolitions experts with X-ray vision who magically know more about the structural integrity of my base than I do.

[Damocles]

Instead of making the zombies vanish after being killed, have them leave a low poly corpse.

 

That does not need to be some gore block. It can be non interactive (no looting) And can account for local destiny (dont spawn more than a certain number per area). And could vanish if any block nearby changes (placed or removed).

It should suffice to have one inanimate model per zombie model in a standard pose. (curled up lying face down). Non animated, low poly low res, short distance LOD models dont take a whole lot of resources.

 

I really dont like that sudden vanishing of corpses. And if there are gameplay problems with corpses (gore blocks, too much loot, slowing down player) just dont have them interactable. And make them removable like grass with a simple smack.

 

Having the remains of previous battles really improves the impression of a dynamic and alive world. It shows history of a location. Suddenly vanishing large entites do not. It feels arcady. They might as well blink before vanishing like in an oldscool sidescoller then..

 

(For weaker clients there can always be the option to turn persistent corpses off, as they dont have a specific gameplay effect).

[TSBX]

For me, since I got the headshot perk, they are completely disappearing after being shot in the head. No corpse to harvest.

 

This has happened with vultures, dogs, wolves, dire wolves, pigs and even Grace thus far.

 

 

 

They no longer act even remotely like zombies, they are well-organized demolitions experts with X-ray vision who magically know more about the structural integrity of my base than I do.

 

He's saying it's fixed in the build they are working on. Devs aren't playing 17.2 .

[Tin]

Instead of making the zombies vanish after being killed, have them leave a low poly corpse.

 

That does not need to be some gore block. It can be non interactive (no looting) And can account for local destiny (dont spawn more than a certain number per area). And could vanish if any block nearby changes (placed or removed).

It should suffice to have one inanimate model per zombie model in a standard pose. (curled up lying face down). Non animated, low poly low res, short distance LOD models dont take a whole lot of resources.

 

I really dont like that sudden vanishing of corpses. And if there are gameplay problems with corpses (gore blocks, too much loot, slowing down player) just dont have them interactable. And make them removable like grass with a simple smack.

 

Having the remains of previous battles really improves the impression of a dynamic and alive world. It shows history of a location. Suddenly vanishing large entites do not. It feels arcady. They might as well blink before vanishing like in an oldscool sidescoller then..

 

(For weaker clients there can always be the option to turn persistent corpses off, as they dont have a specific gameplay effect).

 

I would opt for the body just ash with some blood after awhile. Something like:

and just leave an ash/bloody decal outline on the block it was laying on.

Just my pick is all