Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Dark_Corvid]

I'm a bit confused by your question so I'll just blanket statement the system as best as I can.

There are a lot of book sets that unlock unique perks that are designed to augment each play style or weapon archtype. Collecting all 7 unlocks a completion bonus perk that is pretty kickass or borderline OP.

 

There are schematics for all the things that the skill perks unlock (Not the books). For example, the first rank of of boomstick allows you to craft a double barrel shotgun, but you can also find a double barrel shotgun schematic, which teaches you permanently how to craft a double barrel shotgun. However, that schematic does NOT grant you any of the abilities the first rank of shotgun messiah, such as do more damage.

 

So the first rank of boomstick does this:

Maybe your aim isn't so good or you just like doing a lot of damage up close and personal. Either way a hobo with a shotgun is not to be messed with. Craft faulty quality Shotguns, deal 10% more damage, 10% faster fire rate, and 10% faster reload. Increases chance to dismember by 5%.

 

The schematic does this: Craft faulty quality Shotguns.

 

So a schematic will let you do the basic crafting is all, the perk gives you the full nine yards. Its more useful for forge, or bandages if you don't want to be a doctor but want to craft bandages, then find the schematic. If you interested in all the benefits, buy the perk. The schematics let you focus on your build and give you entry level access to some stuff outside of your specialty.

 

Looks great! I'm excited.

[Dark_Corvid]

You guys are not on the ball I figured it would be posted by now:

 

 

 

Sweeet!

[Dimpy]

You guys are not on the ball I figured it would be posted by now:

 

 

I guess the forum piranhas aren't as starved for new update leaks since the recent video.

[Odetta]

I guess the forum piranhas aren't as starved for new update leaks since the recent video.

 

Twitter posts are nice little snacks but the videos are like a Thanksgiving Dinner:fat:

[FA_Q2]

Would a solution similar to what UTF-16 used help?

They doubled the possible number of bits but left the encoding of the first half the same as UTF-8 so all the old codes still worked but there where way more possible characters.

 

Have each chunk the same as it is now but add the option for it to have a second part.

This would allow for a max height of 512 blocks but would have less of an impact than changing every chunk to be 512 high.

Because only a very low percentage of chunks would need to be more than 256 blocks high.

 

Does that work in a game with flight? I would think that can cause some real issues with the gyro.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Yeah and since there is at least 60 meters wasted on mining that leaves about 190 maximum for mountains, and even less because we need some space to build on top of the mountains. Chris talked of changing it to 512 but I don't think he ever did, it might eat a lot more memory and data to do that.

 

Everything is a game is abstract anyway as you stated many times. Mountains to me is a sudden and sharp raise to max terrain height and they are pretty common in almost any map in 17.

 

As we all know its not yet. Once the tech allows that I could see a hl2 style shotty reload working. We've taken a lot of the steps needed for this to happen but we need to resolve ability to abort a reload yet on all weapons.

 

Please do - this is the reason that I simply do not use the crossbow. Interrupting the reload animation would be a really nice QOL and make guns feel a lot better IMHO.

 

Yeah something like this is a real loss and no incentive to go afk. The amount of loss varies like if your 1% to the next level at level 1 it doesn't really matter at all, but if your level 190 and an 99% to level 191 it might take some hours to recoup that lost XP. I'd still do some other debuffs though that you can take a vitamin to get rid of faster.

 

That sounds really good. The DP right now is overly weak. The worst part is getting your stuff. A XP cost makes sense, confers real loss and yet does not really punish the player as costs are future gains so they are still gains, just smaller.

[khzmusik]

He did not have enough light energy. Its all you need as nutrition.

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

 

My favorite Breatharian was Wiley Brooks, who claimed that McDonald's cheeseburgers and Diet Coke resonated at "5d" frequencies, so you could eat those (but live off of sunlight for everything else):

https://web.archive.org/web/20140522195834/http://www.breatharian.com/5wordsqa.html

[Trankitas]

You guys are not on the ball I figured it would be posted by now:

 

 

 

Al Pacino approves.

[FA_Q2]

My favorite Breatharian was Wiley Brooks, who claimed that McDonald's cheeseburgers and Diet Coke resonated at "5d" frequencies, so you could eat those (but live off of sunlight for everything else):

https://web.archive.org/web/20140522195834/http://www.breatharian.com/5wordsqa.html

 

...

 

Wow. Like really, wow. I USED to think that flat earthers were the bleeding edge of crazy. Half way through that and I had to give up. 5d food - LOL.

[DaVegaNL]

Holland is all I know. I'm over half Dutch btw. The rest is Choctaw indian, and Irish AFAIK.

 

Hehe quite a nice mix!

[Damocles]

Holland ... so I suppose you dont play soccer that well?

[FA_Q2]

Holland ... so I suppose you dont play soccer that well?

 

lol. Ouch.

[AtomicUs5000]

If it is treated like forges and sources of heat, it would take a certain amount of RAW meat to add up to "smell heat". So, say beyond a stack of 50 RAW meat, players start to attract wildlife.

 

It would be a great method of creating a growing risk factor for those players who choose to horde a bunch of meat resources. Cooking could either negate or lessen the "smell heat".

 

Yes, I understand the proposed system. You asked why I said 100% animal zombies as opposed to having any regular animals at all, this was the reply. If it's all about the risk factor, you would want it that way anyway.

[Menace312]

You guys are not on the ball I figured it would be posted by now:

 

 

 

Thanks! Looks good.

 

I dont use twitter... I view that site, as a children's chat.

[Crater Creator]

Why do you feel that food/hunger is the only possible thing needed for surviving in a game? We're surviving weather (extreme heat and cold), we're surviving injuries, we're surviving the friggin zombie apocalypse!!! A survival game is not just about hunger, ya know?

 

Scyris prognosticated that food and water would never be hard to get. If we accept his assessment for the sake of argument, then what do survivalists have to look forward to in Alpha 18?

 

Look at what we've heard from Madmole so far in talking about his playthroughs. There's plenty of food. You don't need to make a farm. New recipes mean more ways to stay well fed. New weapons and perks make hunting easier. The weather is still placeholder, i.e. deliberately disabled at the start. Infection is still broken. And it's like a Bethesda game in more ways than ever.

 

What we haven't heard from Madmole, at least as I can recall, is any mention of being in a struggle for survival. And he's doing several different playthroughs, so he's experiencing the early game multiple times. The impression I'm getting is that his mindset is increasingly to take the teeth out of the survival elements, so that they don't get in the way of building and quests and looting and other things that may be subjectively more fun.

 

And to be clear:

• This isn't about the 1,000-hour players being bored and wanting a reinvented wheel. Good survival mechanics should present challenges beyond those that come with being inexperienced with the game, in my view.
  
• This isn't about the game getting 'too easy' overall. It could be that the Demolisher will make maintaining a base enormously difficult compared to what we're used to... but base building isn't the same as survival.
  
• Merely not getting killed by zombies isn't properly 'survival,' either. There are a huge number of games where you try not to get killed as a result of enemy engagements. Only some are survival games, because it takes more than that to earn the moniker.

[Crater Creator]

...we need to resolve ability to abort a reload yet on all weapons.

 

Yes, please! Not only would this be great for shotguns, but I've found the wooden bow in A17 to be a better choice than its would-be upgrade, the crossbow, for this reason.

[Dark_Corvid]

Yes, I understand the proposed system. You asked why I said 100% animal zombies as opposed to having any regular animals at all, this was the reply. If it's all about the risk factor, you would want it that way anyway.

 

A slight variety in outcomes is welcome even in looking for a way to increase tension or risk in gameplay.

 

The rational behind your proposal could be applied to all the aggressive wildlife in the game but I think the way it is is more interesting from a risk reward perspective.

[Dark_Corvid]

Scyris prognosticated that food and water would never be hard to get. If we accept his assessment for the sake of argument, then what do survivalists have to look forward to in Alpha 18?

 

Look at what we've heard from Madmole so far in talking about his playthroughs. There's plenty of food. You don't need to make a farm. New recipes mean more ways to stay well fed. New weapons and perks make hunting easier. The weather is still placeholder, i.e. deliberately disabled at the start. Infection is still broken. And it's like a Bethesda game in more ways than ever.

 

What we haven't heard from Madmole, at least as I can recall, is any mention of being in a struggle for survival. And he's doing several different playthroughs, so he's experiencing the early game multiple times. The impression I'm getting is that his mindset is increasingly to take the teeth out of the survival elements, so that they don't get in the way of building and quests and looting and other things that may be subjectively more fun.

 

And to be clear:

• This isn't about the 1,000-hour players being bored and wanting a reinvented wheel. Good survival mechanics should present challenges beyond those that come with being inexperienced with the game, in my view.
  
• This isn't about the game getting 'too easy' overall. It could be that the Demolisher will make maintaining a base enormously difficult compared to what we're used to... but base building isn't the same as survival.
  
• Merely not getting killed by zombies isn't properly 'survival,' either. There are a huge number of games where you try not to get killed as a result of enemy engagements. Only some are survival games, because it takes more than that to earn the moniker.

 

When bandits are added in, the tension gamefeel expected from a survival game will be apparent again at later game stages. The game starts with the stress of not enough resources and fighting the elements. Later it could be about managing the consequences of a deprived world (bandits and other preditors) knowing the player is a source of plenty. It becomes a Game of holding on to what one has to avoid starting over. Bandits will take the things beyond food that make a player currently feel invincible at "end game".

 

The Walking Dead has been talked about as a source of inspiration. The cycle of not enough and desperately holding on is evident throughout the show.

 

Currently, the first week or two and the management of heat are the best examples of this cycle. Generally too much heat is a mid, end game tension.

[RipClaw]

What we haven't heard from Madmole, at least as I can recall, is any mention of being in a struggle for survival. And he's doing several different playthroughs, so he's experiencing the early game multiple times. The impression I'm getting is that his mindset is increasingly to take the teeth out of the survival elements, so that they don't get in the way of building and quests and looting and other things that may be subjectively more fun.

 

Let's ask a different question. How would you envision the ideal 7 Days for survivalists? What challenges would the player face and how would you make sure he doesn't lose interest too quickly?

[Telly G]

What I meant was you wouldn't like it in the current framework that we need to change so that you can abort a reload and be allowed to change weapons.

 

ah I get it now. Im ok with what works but if itd take a whole redo of the weapon system and you arent willing to do that or itd take a whole nother year+ then fine.

[Onarr]

Let's ask a different question. How would you envision the ideal 7 Days for survivalists? What challenges would the player face and how would you make sure he doesn't lose interest too quickly?

 

Ill pitch in just because I was actually contemplating this yesterday. I like to explore new ideas.

 

I feel, that the wellnes system that was implemented before perks - you would increase it by eating high quality food, lose on death - was pretty good. Death had serious consequences. However, biggest problem was, that you could end up with 50hp 50stam, which for people that died a lot was big deterrence. I would reintroduce this mechanic, but after death, you would never go under 100/100. You could still gradually increase your wellness up to 200/200.

 

There are now two caps to stamina and health - soft cap and hard cap:

 

Soft stamina cap - works like in alpha 17. You mine, run etc, it decreases. You eat - it increases.

Soft health cap - works like in alpha 17. You bleed, get hit, break limbs etc, it decreases. You heal with bandage, splint, med kit - it increases.

Hard cap is increased only via wellness and is no longer governed by agility/fortitude.

 

Currently, killing animals is way too easy. I can just walk right to a pig and one shot him with stealth bonus. Same with deer. I would implement it, so there would be high chance to spawn vultures and/or dogs on animal kill- depending on gamestage. Boars are more agressive and will charge player (which I mean charge as run really really fast) if they get close. Deers are more shy, and will register player from further distance, and run away. Without using stealth, or sniper rifle, you cannot get close to deer. Bear is much less likely to attack, but his speed is increased, so player can never outrun him. His hit poins are increased. You can only kill bear with some serious firepower.

 

Sealed shamway boxes ALWAYS contain canned food.

 

Vending machines use prewar cash and do not respawn food every day.

 

Removing living of the land perk. Harvesting plant always produce two items. Seeds are crafted from single food item instead of four. Time to grow crop is much longer.

*this part would apply only if spoilage was introduced*

Meat needs to be preserved. Four stages:

Salted meat - downside - cooked meals dehydratate

Smoked meat - downside - cooked meals increase wellness less (needs building smoker)

Refridgirated meat - no downsides, but the food still spoils, but slower.

Frozen meat - meat can ve stored indefinitely, but largely increase the cook time. (Cannot be crafted, must be either bought, or find in some high lvl PoI)

Canned meat - lasts indefinitely, but decrease wellness gained from food. (canning station can be found at the end of tier 5 PoI shamway factory)

 

salted, smoked and refrigirated can be combined for longer even slower spoilage, but negatives stack too.

 

Quality of prepared dish depends on crafting station used. 3 tiers:

1.campfire

2.stove - perk: does not consume wood, only power.

3.crockpot - perk: much better wellness gained, but takes a lot of time to cook.

 

Recipes that require meat can use ration cans (beef, chicken, lamb), so you dont really need to hunt and bother with spoilage, if you dont want. However, those cans are more rare, than getting meat from animal.

 

Cooked meal now spoil within one ingame day. The wellness and health from them decrease down to half.

 

Cooked meals do not stack.

 

Microwave can be used once to push back the decay by fixed ammount.

 

There is limit to how much wellness you can get in a day.

 

All cooked meal now give various long term buffs - around 30 minutes long. They are also the only way (aside from vitamins) that increase wellness.

 

Various canned foods can give food better properties or buffs. - increased stats, bigger block damage, bigger damage, better aim, bigger luck looting etc. For example, you put in meat, potato and fat. That would give you steak and potatoes. Say that would increase your STR by 1 for 1 hour. But you add there a can of peaches and Boom! +10%movements speed to add to that. important is, that the buffs are meaningful and impactful enough, that you FEEL more powerful, than when without them. All this hassle needs to be WELL worth it.

 

You can only have on meal buff. (steak and potatoes, vegetable stew etc.)

You can only have one desert buff. (blueberry pie, tyramisu, cake(is a lie))

You can only have one drink buff. (coffe, tea, yucca juice)

 

So once you exit your home the next day, you are all buffed up and ready to kick ass.

[madmole]

Scyris prognosticated that food and water would never be hard to get. If we accept his assessment for the sake of argument, then what do survivalists have to look forward to in Alpha 18?

 

Look at what we've heard from Madmole so far in talking about his playthroughs. There's plenty of food. You don't need to make a farm. New recipes mean more ways to stay well fed. New weapons and perks make hunting easier. The weather is still placeholder, i.e. deliberately disabled at the start. Infection is still broken. And it's like a Bethesda game in more ways than ever.

 

What we haven't heard from Madmole, at least as I can recall, is any mention of being in a struggle for survival. And he's doing several different playthroughs, so he's experiencing the early game multiple times. The impression I'm getting is that his mindset is increasingly to take the teeth out of the survival elements, so that they don't get in the way of building and quests and looting and other things that may be subjectively more fun.

 

And to be clear:

• This isn't about the 1,000-hour players being bored and wanting a reinvented wheel. Good survival mechanics should present challenges beyond those that come with being inexperienced with the game, in my view.
  
• This isn't about the game getting 'too easy' overall. It could be that the Demolisher will make maintaining a base enormously difficult compared to what we're used to... but base building isn't the same as survival.
  
• Merely not getting killed by zombies isn't properly 'survival,' either. There are a huge number of games where you try not to get killed as a result of enemy engagements. Only some are survival games, because it takes more than that to earn the moniker.

Probably about the same as 17 in the survival department, but a little harder. Nests have been thinned. Zombies are harder because of the speed boost, but that is combat not so much survival, but it does add to the mix, because if your recovering from death you aren't progressing as you normally would, your spending time getting your gear and losing a good part of a day doing it.

 

I've completed most of my work, so its possible I could get infection fixed for A18 yet and possibly do weather yet, but not sure because the new designs require some support from others.

 

Some of our testers have had difficulty finding enough food or a cooking pot, and Rick who's not so fluent in the game got in the death loop on our MP game. He had no food or stamina to try and get any. It's a fine line between easy and frustrating depending on the sheer random factors this game has. Food is no problem if you are an adventurous type. Spend a few hours mining and building and your reserves dry up very fast.

[Ouch Quit It]

No we're not adding bot code to the game lol. It you have to aim when holding it.

 

Shouldnt you always aim when holding it...otherwise it can get messy!

[Onarr]

continuing from my previous post in regards to enviroment

 

1st tier - forest and burned forest

2nd tier - desert and tundra

3rd tier - wasteland

 

1st tier would be as is now, forest being essentially a biome, where you live, does not have much enviromental hazards.

2nd tier, the temperatures will kill you off very quickly, if you do not have proper clothing. Clothing will only prolong the enevitable. You cannot stay in those biomes indefinitely without base. Occasionally, you will need to find shelter, make fire or find water to cooldown. Tundra will have plenty of aggresive wildlife, that will start hunting you, if you stay there for long. Desert have snakes, that decrease your wellness with every bite. Your wellness also decreases if you overheat too much. But! These biomes have higher chance for good loot, more food in cupboards and fridges. Better higher lvl PoIs (tier IV) are also present for higher tier quests, whereas in forest they are not. You

3rd tier is merciless place, that just wants to kill you. Higher chance of wandering ferals, random mines, zombie dogs, vultures. The best PoIs (lvl 5) can be found here and have the highest chance for good loot. But odds of survival are slim, if you are not prepared.

 

You always start in forest biome.

[RestInPieces]

Ill pitch in just because I was actually contemplating this yesterday. I like to explore new ideas.

 

I feel, that the wellnes system that was implemented before perks - you would increase it by eating high quality food, lose on death - was pretty good. Death had serious consequences. However, biggest problem was, that you could end up with 50hp 50stam, which for people that died a lot was big deterrence.

 

I kind of stopped reading a bit after the "death had serious consequences". Hard to take that seriously. Wellness as a concept had merit - however, no, its implementation didn't make death consequential in no way - in fact, death was beneficial.

 

Minimum was not 50/50, it was 70/70 and 120/120 with perks which were easily acquired. 120 health was more than enough in the highest difficulties and 120 stamina didn't hinder you in the least in your activities.

 

So:

-Being killed was more of a positive thing than it was negative, as it did reset status that might actually hinder you and you being teleported was more convenient than inconvenient for the majority of the situations.

-The point of wellness was to make you harder to kill - that was all it offered.

-Since being killed was not really something negative and wellness made you harder to kill, wellness was rather meaningless.

 

Which is why it was scrapped. If low wellness was connected with a death penalty and status didn't reset, only then would we be able to talk about consequences. And adding more kinds of caps won't make any difference.

 

Zombies are harder because of the speed boost

Please make sure that zombies are faster than player sprint in the nightmare speed setting! It will be a great option for players who want zombies to be unavoidable in certain situations!

[The Gronk]

Shouldnt you always aim when holding it...otherwise it can get messy!

 

This is where directional audio and a smell system are essential. :-)