Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Guppycur]

Game doesn't need any additional zombies from other pois. The towers im doing in my world are full of zombies. So much so I have stopped doing them. You spend 500 ammo to get back 100. Now I'm no math guy but that's a bad ratio.

 

I think the issue here is some people see killing zombies itself as the reward, i have seen it talked about here alot. I dont. I want to survive and thrive. I dont go to pois just to kill zombies, I do like the combat and killing zombies it's just not all I wanna do. I wanna build up my stockpiles and thrive. If your at a negative ammo amount after a poi that's bad. If I only wanted to kill zombies I'd go play left 4 dead 2.

 

I know you dont agree and thats fine. I guess I type all this for people reading the forums and TFP.

 

Also I'm 100% on board with any game setting added that given the player control. Like zombie count biome settings. That way everyone gets the game they want. Only thing is if the zombies are tougher in a biome the rewards should reflect that. They never have and that's an issue.

 

Oh I agree 100% that pois are dumb places to store hundreds of zombies in, and I wholeheartedly agree that especially big pois, should have special loot that makes it worth it.

 

I think *our* only disagreement is that I want city streets filled with Zed's to be the danger of a city, not just monotonously bigger lootboxes that carry the same loot.

 

In fact, I'm willing to bet a dollar you and I are actually in total agreement on that.

 

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This is a valid point. So less sleepers and random roaming hordes that actually enter the poi your in?

 

That could be incredable.

 

Yes. There it is. Total agreement.

[madmole]

Would it be possible to boil eggs in a tin can please.

 

Sometimes you cant find a pot right away. And every drop of stamina counts in the early game.

 

No I don't think its hard to find a cooking pot. For 1 point you can buy blacksmith and make one, or you can eat charred meat.

[Roland]

Are you talking about Alpha 17 or 18?

 

Because in Alpha 17 hydration if drops to were you see a red icon which is around roughly 30%. You slowly lose health.

I have seen this happen twice so far.

 

You’re right. It’s not 0%. But even at around 30% the life drain is slow and since the orange tear drop shows up at 75% there is a lot of time to notice it and drink. If you don’t notice the big orange icon for that long then you’re not going to notice a bar level either.

[Guppycur]

Sure, but PvP is the main focus of that game, so it is far more important as a feature. I don't know how many people do PvP in this game, I never have, doubt I ever will, it's why I never got into Rust at all. Did play a decent amount of PUBG, but it got old. I know it's me though, just burnt out on PvP games in general, with a few exceptions.

 

I def would think those who do PvP would be excited about the ghillie suit, ... wait, how would that even effect PvE, does it work on the Z's and animals? I mean it's neat, but I am curious as to what the main purpose of it is in the game, how is it functionally advantageous to PvE players?

 

Turn off shadows. Turn down textures. Lower grass settings.

 

...how to defeat a ghillie suit in a video game.

[Kage848]

The levels have been getting ammo caches added to them at various check points so you don't feel like you wasted all your bullets. This might take some time though to clean up every poi. They have a monster spread sheet and and getting through it, but I wouldn't hold up the build with this not finished.

 

Well i appreciate all the hard work. It's why I have been playing this game since 2013. You guys never disappoint.

[madmole]

I loath stealth lol. I think all builds should be equal. If I'm spending 500 ammo and a stealth person is spending none dosen't that seem like an imbalance? I'd feel like I should be playing stealth, even though I hate it.

 

If they were equal they wouldn't be builds. A build has specific strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages. Your build has the disadvantage of using lots of ammo and making noise.

 

It takes twice as long if not more to sneak through and stab everyone in the head than to go through guns blazing, I recently covered this topic.

 

I didn't say you had to kill everyone. You can just sneak through and use zero ammo.

[Kage848]

Lol sounds to me like "someone plays strategically and uses less amo and i go all Rambo and use a lot... games not balanced..." lol if you wan't to use less amo than do somthing that usess less amo...

 

Again. Forcing people to play stealth is a bad thing imho. Especially with the whole pick a playstyle and go for it. If one playstyle requires 500 ammo and then other dosen't that's bad game balance. Just how I see it.

[Guppycur]

Sounds like you would like a stealth build and agility guy. You can machete everyone and kill them, or silenced modded pistol if they survive and start to wake up and get through a POI without killing or killing very cheaply.

 

There's an inherent problem with a stealth build in this game though... You're spending points on it instead of important "builds", and this flaw comes up every 7 days when the gps zombies come.

 

What's the advantage of stealth on a "stealth doesn't work" day? And if there is none, why do that build at all?

[Mechanimal]

...

Keys can be remapped (see the Bow Drop Incident of 2016). And it could be made to be important. That's the point.

 

Oh I surely will not complain if they add it, just got to remap the E mostly, guess F would work, lot of games map F for similar use to what E does in 7DTD now.

 

Not sure how much I would use in on Z's tbh, to me it is more of a PvP tool, so maybe I would actually do some PvP if it came about. Hmm, just curious if they have ever even seriously considered adding it, it just feels kind of unnecessary as the game is now.

[Guppycur]

The levels have been getting ammo caches added to them at various check points so you don't feel like you wasted all your bullets. This might take some time though to clean up every poi. They have a monster spread sheet and and getting through it, but I wouldn't hold up the build with this not finished.

 

Worst news to date. Even more like a rail game. Damn.

 

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No I don't think its hard to find a cooking pot. For 1 point you can buy blacksmith and make one, or you can eat charred meat.

 

Yeh I think the cooking tree is balanced now... You don't ever NEED a pot.

 

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Oh I surely will not complain if they add it, just got to remap the E mostly, guess F would work, lot of games map F for similar use to what E does in 7DTD now.

 

Not sure how much I would use in on Z's tbh, to me it is more of a PvP tool, so maybe I would actually do some PvP if it came about. Hmm, just curious if they have ever even seriously considered adding it, it just feels kind of unnecessary as the game is now.

 

I'm a dreamer. What could be, not what is. It's my curse.

[Aerial]

Can't wait for A18! Well, actually I can... but only because I have no choice :-)

 

Madmole, has anyone suggested removing the grass fiber clothing from the game? It served a purpose when there was no temperature protection buffer for the first few days but doesn't really contribute anything to the current game. Plus, the idea that I could pick long grass and weave it into a shirt or pants is kind of unrealistic...

 

The fact that clothing is scarce is one of the things I like about A17, but unless I'm going into the desert or snow I don't end up caring about most of the clothing items because I've got the instant grass fiber clothes from day 1. If I find a shirt, great! If not, no big deal.

 

It's really more psychological than anything, but the fact that I'm not wandering the wilderness barefoot and pants-less makes my survival situation feel less dire.

[MajorMunchy]

Turn off shadows. Turn down textures. Lower grass settings.

 

...how to defeat a ghillie suit in a video game.

 

omg right. If you ever played ark, the map Ragnarok has a grass lands area where your character was COMPLETELY covered in tall grass, turn grass to low and boom the grass literally goes from 6ft tall to 6 inches. so cheap in PVP games.

[Callum123456789]

Yes I will crank one out today.

 

thanks madmole

 

by any chance have you guys got a voice actor for trader gen? just wondering she has a slightly manly voice

[andrough]

... because they are weirdly combined.

 

It's close to lunchtime here and I can feel my stamina drop as my blood sugar is getting lower. I really don't understand why it's weird to tie together stamina, thirst and hunger. I'm not trying to go on the offensive here. I just don't get this, especially from someone that seems to advocate for more realistic mechanics in the game fairly often.

[Mechanimal]

There's an inherent problem with a stealth build in this game though... You're spending points on it instead of important "builds", and this flaw comes up every 7 days when the gps zombies come.

 

What's the advantage of stealth on a "stealth doesn't work" day? And if there is none, why do that build at all?

 

I could actually stealth just fine without any perks, again to me it is more of a playstyle and technique. Again I tuned the habit in a dif game, that is highly tactical against other human players, where it was critical behavior. Now you are making me think I have an unfair advantage... and I honestly wouldn't disagree with that the more I think about it. I am far from stealthy on Blood Moon, and not a single arrow gets fired, ♥♥♥♥ gets loud and everything is on fire all night, it's a great contrast.

 

I also save most, if not all, of my 9mm and sometimes shotgun ammo for my turrets, when I make them. An AK with a 4x is both my sniper and my OH ♥♥♥♥ weapon, so I go through a lot of 7.62.

 

Madmole, is the pistol with a silencer as quiet in A17 as it is in A18?

[Guppycur]

It's close to lunchtime here and I can feel my stamina drop as my blood sugar is getting lower. I really don't understand why it's weird to tie together stamina, thirst and hunger. I'm not trying to go on the offensive here. I just don't get this, especially from someone that seems to advocate for more realistic mechanics in the game fairly often.

 

I'm not offended so fire away, but it's not a 1:1 thing irl and I sincerely think it feels weird in a game. If my sugar was low I could eat OR drink to get it up, and that's not how the game works.

[MajorMunchy]

I'm not offended so fire away, but it's not a 1:1 thing irl and I sincerely think it feels weird in a game. If my sugar was low I could eat OR drink to get it up, and that's not how the game works.

 

they could easily make things to remedy hat

@MM i found a perfect idea that i bet you would endorse for a l;iquid that gives huhnger maybe?: Protein shake???

meat,corn meal, and water? idk lol seems legit

[Callum123456789]

I'm not offended so fire away, but it's not a 1:1 thing irl and I sincerely think it feels weird in a game. If my sugar was low I could eat OR drink to get it up, and that's not how the game works.

 

speaking of stamina sometimes like 1/10 times I start a new game I can get stuck in a dying loop of starvation your water is restored upon death but for some reason none of the food

[Viktoriusiii]

Some people say imbalance, some people say advantages and disadvantages.

 

I have to agree with you here.

A stealth build might be great to get through a tower, where a machinegun guy has trouble.

 

But I really don't want to be a stealth guy only on hordenight with 50 radiated bikers coming my way, knowing exactly, where I am!

[RipClaw]

There's an inherent problem with a stealth build in this game though... You're spending points on it instead of important "builds", and this flaw comes up every 7 days when the gps zombies come.

 

What's the advantage of stealth on a "stealth doesn't work" day? And if there is none, why do that build at all?

 

In the horde night the points in stealth may not be worth much but during the rest of the time stealth can be a lot of fun and also very helpful. Instead of running around like a headless chicken, you sneak through the building and kill zombie after zombie before they wake up.

 

Also, you're not limited to one build if you play long enough. In the early game in A17 I mainly invested points in strength and melee. In the late game I switched to stealth and perception.

[ZombieSurvivor]

Can't wait for A18! Well, actually I can... but only because I have no choice :-)

 

Madmole, has anyone suggested removing the grass fiber clothing from the game? It served a purpose when there was no temperature protection buffer for the first few days but doesn't really contribute anything to the current game. Plus, the idea that I could pick long grass and weave it into a shirt or pants is kind of unrealistic...

 

The fact that clothing is scarce is one of the things I like about A17, but unless I'm going into the desert or snow I don't end up caring about most of the clothing items because I've got the instant grass fiber clothes from day 1. If I find a shirt, great! If not, no big deal.

 

It's really more psychological than anything, but the fact that I'm not wandering the wilderness barefoot and pants-less makes my survival situation feel less dire.

 

I would have to strongly disagree with you. it gives you armor protection early on which is vital and gives you some weather protection, not sure how much that truly matter though.

[ZombieSurvivor]

No, tin has the right solution... Biome the cities like they used to be so that you can increase the count only there where it actually makes sense. And no, my game isn't broken (and neither are the other people's who are saying the same thing), cities are loot fests. Zero additional zombie count from any other poi, and zero additional zombie count from any other biome.

 

Just, more pois, which means more loot boxes. And unfortunately, the same loot.

 

This whole time I have been avoiding cities thinking they just were not worth the hassle. Now your telling me they are not as bad as before, heck time for city looting! I had no idea the cities were nerfed a bit for A17.x

[Guppycur]

In the horde night the points in stealth may not be worth much but during the rest of the time stealth can be a lot of fun and also very helpful. Instead of running around like a headless chicken, you sneak through the building and kill zombie after zombie before they wake up.

 

Also, you're not limited to one build if you play long enough. In the early game in A17 I mainly invested points in strength and melee. In the late game I switched to stealth and perception.

 

So on regular days I'm sneaking around getting loot but not getting any XP because I'm not killing zombies, the main way to get XP, then on horde nights I'm ill-prepared because not only do I have a useless build for the night but I do not have the XP to have levelled up.

 

In SP this could work, sort of, but in MP I might as well log out on day 7's because my buddies, with other zombie killing builds, are bringing the glowies.

[Callum123456789]

also another thing I have noticed don't know if its fixed in a18 but when you are riding shotgun in the 4x4 the shotgun driver for some reason cannot see the vehicles wheels turning

[The Gronk]

So on regular days I'm sneaking around getting loot but not getting any XP because I'm not killing zombies, the main way to get XP, then on horde nights I'm ill-prepared because not only do I have a useless build for the night but I do not have the XP to have levelled up.

 

In SP this could work, sort of, but in MP I might as well log out on day 7's because my buddies, with other zombie killing builds, are bringing the glowies.

 

Do zombies target individual players or the nearest available player? If it's the latter your tank buddies are the bait/distraction while you shoot from the shadows.