Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[SnowDog1942]

Hah! I'm the other way around. No beard, and crap hair...

 

One of the most powerful men in the world has crap hair... So theres that

 

I have some hair around my nipples. Must count for something?

[Trankitas]

Stop please. A18 related stuff only.

 

jk i got hair around my nipples too.

 

 

 

Roland mod me please.

[The Gronk]

Ah yes, I did it for the telltale character packs but our default character comes with a stubble hair overlay that is built in, it looks good under hair so all the players don't look balding. There is no way to turn that on or off easily in the default character editing menu.

 

What you could do is edit archtypes.xml to bypass that and just edit one of the presets to look how you want.

 

I know it's not a priority but it would be appreciated if you kept the follicly challenged in mind when upgrading the avatar.

 

#baldboncesmatter

[Menace312]

Hair is hair. Annoying or no

[FA_Q2]

So be a strength guy. The fire axe is now under mining so you can do it, clubs, sledges and shotguns. If not strength where would it go? Strength is the most fitting attribute, mining is hard labor and swinging a pickaxe requires strength.

 

Hence the problem.

 

If I want to build then be a strength guy. That is a bad answer. What is 'fitting' is not really that important and clearly you dont care what is fitting either from the comments that you have posted here many times. Is is bad from a game play perspective.

 

Here is the thing, across ANY character I make building is a core element of that character. It is a massive element of the game and one of the things that most players are going to be actively engaged in with almost any build. However, I cannot specialize in raged combat AND be an effective builder. I am going to need to spec into close range combat styles or spread myself out. Building - almost the entire non combat portion of the game - being directly tied to one specific combat style is not very conducive to being able to specialize or make your toon unique.

 

Guiding my toon that direction because I want to participate in the building aspect in a meaningful way is the exact opposite of allowing us to spec how we want. With this attitude, all builders are going to be melee/shotgun builds or spread out.

 

Tell me - how does marrying a specific combat style to a massive non combat part of the game improve game play? How does that improve character progression? IMHO, it harms both substantially.

 

 

Also, this is one of the reasons why I think that using a fallout like perk category system is a really bad idea for this game - they are not very similar. Rather than categories like strength, perception and the like there should be categories like melee, ranged, survival etc. Ones that can be more customized to deal with the fact that 7 Days is more than killing the bad guy but is also about TD, looting and crafting.

[Haidrgna]

I think that it is important to remember also what you've stated in other posts. Strength perks will help with mining but they aren't the only way. Having a T3 or T4 tool at highest quality and with mining mods installed is going to get a non-strength character into the zone of easy mining. The whole point of the new design is that you have an option of buying perks for bonuses, finding or crafting mods for bonuses, finding books for bonuses, and finding or crafting higher tier and higher quality tools for bonuses. That way I can focus on being an intelligence guy with my perks but hit the trader up for a Purple quality steel pickaxe and then install some mods that further increase damage or harvest amounts.

 

If someone wants to be a fast miner/builder from the beginning of the game every time they play then they WILL want to perk into strength every time. But that is them wanting to play the same way and doesn't mean that the game is forcing anyone to play the same way. Specialization is ALWAYS going to cause heartache amongst those who want to be gods in everything as soon as possible. Those people should just give themselves 50 skillpoints at the beginning of the game and have done. That lets the rest of us have strengths and weaknesses and then look for the loot that will help us mitigate our weaknesses. That make for fun gameplay. I'm boss with a bow but I suck at mining. I better get off my ass and find/buy the gear that will make mining better for me if I want to keep focusing my points on archery.

 

You will never eradicate Min/Maxing though, despite the best intend of having all different options available. What is currently stopping someone from getting the bonus from all the sources. Or do some stuff actually come with drawbacks so stacking to much on top of another will hurt as well?

 

But I like the sound of having multiple paths to same goal, though as long as all this variety does not make itself redundant because one choise is always easier/cheaper. Why would one spend perk points at all if a mod exists that is easily found for example.

 

Another thing I notice in many games and A17 has it as well, that at some stage going up to high does not matter as it just flattens of because you reached some artificial max. Like if you have perked to 10 str and get +2 str from some item, it will top off at 10 making that item useless at that stage of the game. Obviously it should rise above 10 (though maybe with diminishing returns).

[SnowDog1942]

Hence the problem.

 

If I want to build then be a strength guy. That is a bad answer. What is 'fitting' is not really that important and clearly you dont care what is fitting either from the comments that you have posted here many times. Is is bad from a game play perspective.

 

Here is the thing, across ANY character I make building is a core element of that character. It is a massive element of the game and one of the things that most players are going to be actively engaged in with almost any build. However, I cannot specialize in raged combat AND be an effective builder. I am going to need to spec into close range combat styles or spread myself out. Building - almost the entire non combat portion of the game - being directly tied to one specific combat style is not very conducive to being able to specialize or make your toon unique.

 

Guiding my toon that direction because I want to participate in the building aspect in a meaningful way is the exact opposite of allowing us to spec how we want. With this attitude, all builders are going to be melee builds or spread out.

 

Tell me - how does marrying a specific combat style to a massive non combat part of the game improve game play? How does that improve character progression? IMHO, it harms both substantially.

 

Just because u arent the best possible spec to mine does not mean you will never have enough materials to build what you want.

[HungryZombie]

Its a perk under perception the sniper can use (works only on hunting rifles). We're deciding if and how to use it on other weapons that might make sense. The shotgun can destroy weaker walls with a book perk, and breaching rounds blow open safes.

 

That sounds really fun.

[enragedcamel]

Are there plans to make crossbow and compound bow more distinct, stats-wise?

 

Crossbow is slightly higher damage, but takes longer to reload and generates significant noise when fired. In general, there is almost no reason to use it over the compound bow, unless you happen to be swimming in crossbow bolts that you have looted.

[SnowDog1942]

Are there plans to make crossbow and compound bow more distinct, stats-wise?

 

Crossbow is slightly higher damage, but takes longer to reload and generates significant noise when fired. In general, there is almost no reason to use it over the compound bow, unless you happen to be swimming in crossbow bolts that you have looted.

 

Ive found the crossbow to be useless to. I scrap it or sell it and scrap the bolts.

[lug]

i am guessing that the traders will sell ample building resources for those too weak to gather the amounts they want

[Menace312]

Weak huh... Perhaps you mean lazy?

[meganoth]

Are there plans to make crossbow and compound bow more distinct, stats-wise?

 

Crossbow is slightly higher damage, but takes longer to reload and generates significant noise when fired. In general, there is almost no reason to use it over the compound bow, unless you happen to be swimming in crossbow bolts that you have looted.

 

I know 3 people who almost always use crossbow because the straighter arc of the bolt allows more reliable headshots in the distance. Incidentally I myself use the bow exactly because of the arc which makes aiming more interesting.

[Gazz]

Hence the problem.

 

If I want to build then be a strength guy. That is a bad answer. What is 'fitting' is not really that important and clearly you dont care what is fitting either from the comments that you have posted here many times. Is is bad from a game play perspective.

That's not what Joel said, though.

 

If mining is your main priority in the game, sure. Go for strength. But you don't need to go all in in order to be able to build.

[Trankitas]

Weak huh... Perhaps you mean lazy?

 

+1 You're not forbidden to get mats, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND DO IT.

[The Gronk]

Weak huh... Perhaps you mean lazy?

 

So...

 

Everyone must work to produce the resources they need while traders are strictly limited, thereby denying society of a meaningful merchant class?

 

Smells like a communist conspiracy to me! :-)

[Shineblossom]

Hence the problem.

 

If I want to build then be a strength guy. That is a bad answer. What is 'fitting' is not really that important and clearly you dont care what is fitting either from the comments that you have posted here many times. Is is bad from a game play perspective.

 

Here is the thing, across ANY character I make building is a core element of that character. It is a massive element of the game and one of the things that most players are going to be actively engaged in with almost any build. However, I cannot specialize in raged combat AND be an effective builder. I am going to need to spec into close range combat styles or spread myself out. Building - almost the entire non combat portion of the game - being directly tied to one specific combat style is not very conducive to being able to specialize or make your toon unique.

 

Guiding my toon that direction because I want to participate in the building aspect in a meaningful way is the exact opposite of allowing us to spec how we want. With this attitude, all builders are going to be melee/shotgun builds or spread out.

 

Tell me - how does marrying a specific combat style to a massive non combat part of the game improve game play? How does that improve character progression? IMHO, it harms both substantially.

 

 

Also, this is one of the reasons why I think that using a fallout like perk category system is a really bad idea for this game - they are not very similar. Rather than categories like strength, perception and the like there should be categories like melee, ranged, survival etc. Ones that can be more customized to deal with the fact that 7 Days is more than killing the bad guy but is also about TD, looting and crafting.

 

Dude. For the 70th time this day only. Use. Auger.

I am playing 7D for building mainly, too. And i am using agility build. So stop lying about "You MUST be str character yada yada"

[TSBX]

Is the item comparison UI the same in a18?

[Star69]

Ive found the crossbow to be useless to. I scrap it or sell it and scrap the bolts.

 

I'm glad to hear someone else believes this. In A16, the crossbow was my main weapon of choice. Something was done to it for A17. For many of us, we went back to the bow/compound bow as a primary weapon. It's a shame too....I used to really like the crossbow.

[Odetta]

Is the item comparison UI the same in a18?

 

 

I hope not, it should be reversed. You know, like how every other game does it...

 

[madmole]

Hence the problem.

 

If I want to build then be a strength guy. That is a bad answer. What is 'fitting' is not really that important and clearly you dont care what is fitting either from the comments that you have posted here many times. Is is bad from a game play perspective.

 

Here is the thing, across ANY character I make building is a core element of that character. It is a massive element of the game and one of the things that most players are going to be actively engaged in with almost any build. However, I cannot specialize in raged combat AND be an effective builder. I am going to need to spec into close range combat styles or spread myself out. Building - almost the entire non combat portion of the game - being directly tied to one specific combat style is not very conducive to being able to specialize or make your toon unique.

 

Guiding my toon that direction because I want to participate in the building aspect in a meaningful way is the exact opposite of allowing us to spec how we want. With this attitude, all builders are going to be melee/shotgun builds or spread out.

 

Tell me - how does marrying a specific combat style to a massive non combat part of the game improve game play? How does that improve character progression? IMHO, it harms both substantially.

 

 

Also, this is one of the reasons why I think that using a fallout like perk category system is a really bad idea for this game - they are not very similar. Rather than categories like strength, perception and the like there should be categories like melee, ranged, survival etc. Ones that can be more customized to deal with the fact that 7 Days is more than killing the bad guy but is also about TD, looting and crafting.

 

Your assuming that you need all the perks to be an efficient builder, which is not the case. If you want maximum harvesting then sure, but you can get adequate resources with a tiny investment into strength. You can buy materials and harvest materials at pois. Its also quite easy to spec into two attributes which accommodates what you want.

 

The only problem with the design is if you are some weirdo min maxer who just can't sleep at night without 5 ranks of miner69r and motherlode.

 

TBH I'm swimming in resources with 3 ranks of miner 69r and a blue iron pickaxe. I can get 1000's of iron in one night, why would you need more than that, unless you are a min maxer freak. And I still am nowhere near the ceiling with mining tools and I have hardly any mining books which also give you special benefits, like the one shot perk that adds a 20% per swing chance to one shot any ore block, meaning you really chew through stuff. The auger and chainsaw allow for non miners to get loads of resources too, with no perks, the harvest is faster and superior than the best pickaxe.

 

Mining has to be somewhere, otherwise, we lose like two whole attributes. I mean we could ungate it, and just let tools do all the work, but why, because it doesn't fit your idea? Its best suited under strength and the requirements are super low. I think you need 3 strength to be able to buy 3 ranks of miner69r and lode, so a whopping 9 points gets you 60% of a top miner. Might as well grab some pack mule why you are there.

 

So with the free 4 points you can be kicking ass at mining by level 5 and be 60% as good as the best. That is not some game breaking unbalanced thing you make it out to be. Its trivial. You have the rest of your game to buy whatever you want.

[madmole]

Just because u arent the best possible spec to mine does not mean you will never have enough materials to build what you want.

 

Exactly. As I mentioned I'm swimming in resources. Nitrate and coal now have 600 hit points and I still managed to mine up the resources to make 1000 9mm ammo in one night and craft about 300 rounds for my horde. With just 3 ranks of mining perks and one sex rex.

[madmole]

Are there plans to make crossbow and compound bow more distinct, stats-wise?

 

Crossbow is slightly higher damage, but takes longer to reload and generates significant noise when fired. In general, there is almost no reason to use it over the compound bow, unless you happen to be swimming in crossbow bolts that you have looted.

 

I think so. Probably more range and damage to compensate.

[khzmusik]

There are _no_ natural light sources inside a computer. :-)

 

The main ones are directional, point and spot. The directional light is representing the sun and is the one that leaks through the ground to illuminate caves. Candles are a point light and spotlights... well, you might guess that one.

 

Fataal has already taken steps to improve the point lights which was what the OP was about.

 

Calculating closed rooms is ridiculously expensive on system resources, it's best to avoid that if possible.

 

Perhaps I missed it and this has already been suggested... but if the issue really is the gaps between "adjacent" hulls, one solution might be for lighting to use an expanded hull when calculating light rays. Like, an object might be a 16x16 cube, but the light behaves as if it were 17x17 for purposes of occlusion and/or ray casting.

 

I'm just spitballing, I don't know if that's a practical solution. You might need to have an entirely separate hull just for light (eating up memory) or have to re-calculate an expanded hull with a huge number of nodes (eating up CPU and/or GPU). But I'm not a game developer, so maybe there's another method I don't know about.

[madmole]

i am guessing that the traders will sell ample building resources for those too weak to gather the amounts they want

 

They sell a decent amount, but IMO noone is too weak. I mean it depends on what your idea is. If you think you can mine for 5 minutes and build for 5 days, then no you won't be happy. The stone axe is boosted and I built a wood house with it. Wasn't the smartest use of time because you should just loot for 5 days straight then buy some mining perks and use the tools you will find to do a more efficient job.