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Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!


madmole

Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!  

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  1. 1. Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

    • A18 Stable is Out!
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@madmole seeing as there will be books that add to gathering more resources such as one of the books apparently giving the benefit of gather doorknobs from doors. Will there be more of a resource sink to conteract more resources added to the game?

 

I mean surely we don't want players to be able to become gods with all the brass for ammo, eh? (JUST KIDDING!) I must get a brass bath.

 

To me its a dedicated effort to get enough ammo. I mean I spent a whole day mining nitrate/lead/coal to craft enough ammo to kill the horde that came, half the day before the horde smelting forged iron for metal spikes. So I spent a day and a half and I easily wrecked the day 14 horde. To me the game played as expected. People who don't mine and don't scavenge brass will definitely have a bullet shortage, and the new better ammo is a higher cost to maintain.

 

We're balancing every day but I like what I'm playing now a lot. I probably played 10 hours on a Sunday, so it must be good. I'm actually working on "castle like details" to my fort that wouldn't ever do on previous tests because in 16 I could sit on a roof and be safe, and in 17 the loot wasn't interesting enough to keep me hooked. So its a good sign I'm working on my base (although barely any time for this as the desire to loot is super strong). With agility Im a night owl so my base time is limited. Im out hunting dudes with my bow and have found the no encumbrance at night book, so I go fetch my loot stashes I placed during the day and snipe everything with my bow for massive sneak damage.

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I either play this game hardcore/ dead is dead, OR in creative mode with no enemies and build stuff with "legos"

 

I really think creative mode could use a one button click to remove any block. Any chance this could happen? Am I missing a way that already exists?

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I either play this game hardcore/ dead is dead, OR in creative mode with no enemies and build stuff with "legos"

 

I really think creative mode could use a one button click to remove any block. Any chance this could happen? Am I missing a way that already exists?

 

You're missing it... it's called super digger (had to look it up, couldn't remember), looks like an smg.

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I get the skepticism, but 17 wasn't the first dud alpha we shipped. 13 was a dud and we made 14 awesome. Any time you bring in a ton of new features it takes time to work out the kinds. The new harvest system of 13 was cool tech, but the game wasn't balanced. Same with perks in 17. Amazing power there, but poor balance and distribution. 18 is 1000% better IMO.

 

For those who like to accuse me of being a yes-man...

 

I disagree completely (but not about A13).

 

A17 is no dud. It is an embryo of A18.

 

A17 brought back the magic. A16 in every way (except LBD for those who enjoyed it) was inferior. The zombie AI made it unplayable. A17 is a departure from A16 in some significant areas and for those who preferred the old that got changed I can understand their disappointment but for those of us who see the merits and weaknesses of both versions, A17 comes out way ahead overall. I have put more time into A17 than A16 and A15 combined and that was before I started working on my mod.

 

So, no, Mr Mole. I stand opposed to your remark. If I get fired for saying A17 is awesome. So be it!!!

 

;)

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For those who like to accuse me of being a yes-man...

 

I disagree completely (but not about A13).

 

A17 is no dud. It is an embryo of A18.

 

A17 brought back the magic. A16 in every way (except LBD for those who enjoyed it) was inferior. The zombie AI made it unplayable. A17 is a departure from A16 in some significant areas and for those who preferred the old that got changed I can understand their disappointment but for those of us who see the merits and weaknesses of both versions, A17 comes out way ahead overall. I have put more time into A17 than A16 and A15 combined and that was before I started working on my mod.

 

So, no, Mr Mole. I stand opposed to your remark. If I get fired for saying A17 is awesome. So be it!!!

 

;)

 

The rebellion has started.

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The problem with that is your making this huge decision to the new player who doesn't have any idea what weapons and abilities he actually likes and they are locked into that. The older Fallout and Elder Scrolls games had this and took it out because it was just too overwhelming to new players.

 

We prefer a more open canvas and let players decide who they become as they play, not be forced into a character before you have even seen your first zombie.

 

It's cool how much does everything feel different when you're a new player. I started in Alpha 12, and the game was much scarier for me back then, but I also constantly explored (and I really enjoyed exploring the world, even with the terrible A12-A15 RWG) and I only dug down a hole to hide from zombies (some times worked, sometimes not). I was terrible at the game, and it took a while until I got my first Forge. The journal system really helped (when it was added).

 

I also remember a really memorable time when I was really scared, hiding in a huge house in the second floor in the night, and hoping no zombies come, holding a torch. But zombies broke down the door in the first floor and I heard them destroying ♥♥♥♥ there, and then they rushed to the second floor and whacked me. That scared me, and it was a really cool experience.

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Mods. Quests. Dungeon POIs. Smarter AI. Vehicles. Better visuals. Pre-gen’d, better running random maps. Awesome new game options. PARKOUR! No more post-horde half-day cleanup, just some sweet yellow bags to loot.

 

Not a dud. Agreed. 17 was a huge improvement in so many ways.

 

The improved AI alone makes the game dramatically better, and finding whole guns and sick gun mods is awesome, rather than your 100th shotgun stock. I can’t believe how much time I spent sorting and combining endless piles of gun parts. I enjoy tedious things in general, but that ish got old quick. Being able to have a couple different AK’s or shotguns modded to different needs is really great and I hope to see more sweet mods in the future.

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Is it? FFS I got you going the other day and the suspense is killing me.

 

And I thank you for doing so. Alpha 18 is shaping up very well. I can't play with occlusion enabled for the time being so I have that turned off. Here are my thoughts if the forum doesn't mind eavesdropping...

 

Spear: The single most amazing and fun early game change. It can be used as a melee weapon with good reach and as a ranged weapon. It is fun to keep three on my belt. I'll throw the first two and then melee with the last one and the changeup between ranged and melee feels fun and even more natural than changing from bow to club. The spear feels like something that should have been in the game since Alpha 1 it feels that natural and fitting for the game. I think there is a bug because when I purchase a rank in spears I craft a brown quality instead of an orange quality and I thought we should be able to craft a brown quality stone spear without spending a point.

 

DMS: The dynamic music is really cool and it is amazing how it mixes tracks to create mood music that isn't exactly the same each time. I played around with the settings and do prefer about 10%. I think it is effective when it happens rarely. It really adds a lot to the mood. Zack did a fantastic job with it.

 

Books: Exploring and scavenging feel so much better being able to find books that you can read. Schematics unlock recipes again instead of being part of the recipe and the perk books deliver an incredible feeling of being well rewarded. Bringing readable books to learn recipes and gain advantages really brings back the feel of earlier Alphas that had book learning. This really makes A18 feel like a return to a classic feature that most everyone enjoyed.

 

World: After the fix you sent me so I could generate an A18 random world I made a few and they were all outstanding. The textures are great and the performance wonderful. The world seems to be back to fantastic again as far as biome size and mixture. I haven't explored everywhere but the world looked good. Some of the ground textures do seem a bit jarring in the forest because they appear to be rock but harvest as soil. Not sure if there is anything to be done with that. Just a nitpick.

 

Encumbrance: This probably exemplifies what you are trying to do with A18 as far as making perks optional benefits instead of necessary benefits. With the starting status being 3 rows of open slots and only 2 rows of encumbered slots it definitely makes purchasing Pack Mule more of an option. Especially with the new sewing kits and ability to create pocket mods that can alleviate encumbrance without needing to buy the perk it makes it even more of an option. Whether this is good or bad probably depends on the player and how much they like being weak and gimped at the start but then progressing to strength. I prefer starting out extremely disadvantaged making survival a very meaningful accomplishment and then being able to grow to a position of strength that is quite a bit different than where I began. But that is probably an extreme view best left for a mod rather than a vanilla experience. I suspect most will be overjoyed at having encumbrance play a less impactful role in the game. I certainly couldn't complain at having 9 extra slots at the beginning.

 

Spawns: It seems like there is a bit more outdoor population but I don't know if it was because it was changed or if it is that bug that is causing twins to spawn all the time. If it is the twin bug then I suggest once that is fixed, upping the outdoor spawns to match what it has been with the twins because it feels better having more zombies outside. I did one quest and it was fun. There still seemed to be quite a few indoor sleepers but no complaints on that from me. Not sure if they have thinned them out yet or not. I would need to do a few more quests to see if there is a difference. Being able to find books now increases the value of exploring POI's by tons which in turn makes quests more interesting because you are likely to find books and schematics in addition to the loot and the trader rewards. So I didn't mind fighting through more zombies because my perceived rewards were greater and made it worth it.

 

Progression: Feels really good since you had the speed of leveling up nerfed a bit.

 

Feathers: Holy Heck! You destroyed the feather counts...lol I think I noticed you comment that you were going to bring them up again a bit. The spear makes it bearable but I'll be interested in playing again once the feather counts are adjusted upwards a bit. I know that the vulture is a good source of feathers but they aren't on every roof and unless you are injured they stay high up circling and are almost impossible to bring down. So I found myself almost tempted to take a hit or two from a zombie so as to entice the vulture to attack so I could easily kill it to get more feathers. That's kind of a weird motivation to feel... By the way, one vulture that I hit and injured flew away from me. Do vultures now have a panic behavior when they are injured? That will also make it much tougher to kill them and gain feathers unless you manage to one-shot them.

 

Finally...the new feature I codenamed "Mantis Shrimp". Dude.

 

Perhaps not that unlikely after all that the vulture will more often switch to attack mode....haha...ouch.

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Hey Madmole, what do you like most about A18? Could you give us a summary of your impressions and everything that the new Alfa A18 generates?

 

Its a toss up really. Random stats on items with quality is really cool, but I like the feeling of specialization the most. If I go into one tree and just max it out, use the weapons it governs and perks in the intended play style, I feel rewarded and I'm starting to feel like a special character archtype vs just "survivor" like before.

 

My strength character felt like a badass blowing heads off with shotguns and smashing zeds with clubs. He smashed open safes with his good tools and tool perks.

 

My agility character is sniping zombies at night with bows, using lockpicks to open safes, fights with a hunting knife in melee and uses a silenced pistol when I have enough ammo and a magnum on horde night or for bigger tougher zombies.

 

The books are cool every time, nearly every one I find is useful. Schematics are cool too, collecting recipes for foods saves me perk points I don't want to spend, and my Agility character has 1 int, so far I'm faring just fine. I am using the traders workbench, and bought a schematic for a chem station I will craft eventually.

 

As cool as those things are, the game feeling balanced and well designed is the best thing about it. I can do what I want and have choices. Perks if I know I'm going down that route, but otherwise books schematics and traders fill in the gaps.

 

I found a motorcycle chassis schematic, bought the handlebar schematic, but now an engine is keeping me from having my first vehicle. Its day 16 and still on foot. I don't mind it though, I have the no encumbrance at night perk so I transport my loot at night and snipe everything I see with my bow, its great. You can see at night now, the moon puts off decent light. Its still a little dark in some biomes, but overall its fun being a night stalker.

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Yeah I guess I am looking at it from a 1K+ hours perspective. And the fact that some of the big overhaul mods come with some form of class selection.

 

Could be cool to have the possibility to make a character that way but also have an Amnesia mode which could be the way it is now? That way one could cater for both worlds maybe? Then if you select something else than Amnesia you could setup a character more specifically?

 

But the one system works great for both already. The guy who knows what he wants buys what he wants immediately when he has the points. The noob buys them as he learns the game.

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I either play this game hardcore/ dead is dead, OR in creative mode with no enemies and build stuff with "legos"

 

I really think creative mode could use a one button click to remove any block. Any chance this could happen? Am I missing a way that already exists?

 

Hammer of God in CM.

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For those who like to accuse me of being a yes-man...

 

I disagree completely (but not about A13).

 

A17 is no dud. It is an embryo of A18.

 

A17 brought back the magic. A16 in every way (except LBD for those who enjoyed it) was inferior. The zombie AI made it unplayable. A17 is a departure from A16 in some significant areas and for those who preferred the old that got changed I can understand their disappointment but for those of us who see the merits and weaknesses of both versions, A17 comes out way ahead overall. I have put more time into A17 than A16 and A15 combined and that was before I started working on my mod.

 

So, no, Mr Mole. I stand opposed to your remark. If I get fired for saying A17 is awesome. So be it!!!

 

;)

 

The framework was there and a lot of good stuff, but too many abilities completely delegated to perks left most players feeling like, well what kind of choice is this? I need everything the only choice is when I'm buying it. You needed int for crafting, you needed perception for ranged, agility for stamina, fort for hit points, strength for melee damage and mining. Kind of a lose lose. Intent was good, but thanks to our loving community for pointing out their disappointment, I think 18 is awesome.

 

Now get to playing it and let me know what you think.

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The improved AI alone makes the game dramatically better, and finding whole guns and sick gun mods is awesome, rather than your 100th shotgun stock. I can’t believe how much time I spent sorting and combining endless piles of gun parts. I enjoy tedious things in general, but that ish got old quick. Being able to have a couple different AK’s or shotguns modded to different needs is really great and I hope to see more sweet mods in the future.

 

Oh yeah! I really like the new gun parts that are specific to each gun. I guess it might seem a bit like sorting the old specific parts but at least now it is just one generic part for a specific gun rather than 3-4 specific parts for a specific gun. Its a good compromise that makes scrapping duplicate guns for the parts feel more worthwhile. And I like a bit of sorting at night. :)

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Guest Rassilon
Will do, just need the access codes for the Zion mainframe.

 

Fellow Agent, please share this important Message with the other Machines, once you get it.

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Back in the day when A17 was in development I remember a screenshot being posted about the shape selection feature. The idea was that instead of having to craft blocks in a desired shape, all blocks would be crafted as cubes and just upon placing the block you would get a menu to select any shape out of all existing ones.

 

Is this amazing feature still being worked on? When can we possibly expect it? It would be a great improvement for people who like building.

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