Alpha 18 Dev Diary!!

[Ouch Quit It]

Were you a firefighter IRL in NYC?

 

Yup...Loved it!! Miss it!! I truly beleieve that if you love your job....thats more than half the battle. Gotta wake up and enjoy what you are doing...money is not the only answer!!

[Gareee]

Taser baton wip:

 

Since I have Jayick's mod with the katana and the electric chain stun mod, and if its like that this will be VERY popular...its fun as all hell!

 

He has it on a scythe, but jump to 24:40

 

 

(I forget how to post a yt video with the thumbnail... any mod want to fix?)

[Cazmyr]

MadMole,

 

I was playing this morning and came up with an idea. I know you are not looking at adding 'mechanic' changes to A18, but you also said that if the idea is good enough it will gain traction, so here it goes.

 

~ Currently cupboards that are open signify that they are not searchable, and that streamlines looting and is all good. IMHO

~ If you want those cupboards to be functional the only way is to destroy them and make new ones.

~ which is not hard even day 1 they are easily crafted and replaced.

~ My idea to streamline this is:

~ make the open cabinets 'fixable/ repairable' and then they are 'fixed/ repaired' the door shuts and they are usable.

I do not know the logistics of this, but I think of it like a damaged block on the side of a POI that you can see through. You repair it and it becomes a solid wooden block. It seems like the cupboards could do the same thing, but repair into a functional cupboard. This would save time not having to craft new ones after knocking out the old ones. Just four right clicks with a stone axe, a cost of 4 wood and boom functioning cupboards.

Edit to add:

~ this could be done with fridges and ovens also. Repair with a wrench and costing scrap metal and maybe some electrical or mechanical parts or both and boom the door closes and you have a storage container. (as that is all the functionality they have for now.)

 

I know this is a little thing and probably a bit nit picky, but there it is. Have a great one!

[Mylo]

+++Joel PLEASE READ THIS+++

Do you have any plans for tweaking repairing system? I noticed that you can repair tools and weapons as many times as you want, so making new gear is not that necessary as it should be. I think it would be more logical to make items brake completely after several repairs (or lowing their durability stat to minimal number/losing stat point etc.) so players will be interested in finding better gear/repair kits.

 

Hope you'll see this post.

Best regards

[Cazmyr]

Do you have any plans for tweaking repairing system? I noticed that you can repair tools and weapons as many times as you want, so making new gear is not that necessary as it should be. I think it would be more logical to make items brake completely after several repairs (or lowing their durability stat to minimal number/losing stat point etc.) so players will be interested in finding better gear/repair kits.

 

I would agree with this. I think that one way to do it would be you can repair the item X times (where X = the quality of the item) before it lowers in quality.

 

So a quality item of 6 allows you to repair it 6 times and then it lowers to quality 5. You would then be able to repair it 5 more times until it lowered to 4, etc.

 

The biggest concern would be what happens to the mods when the quality is lowered. Would they be lost ( a valuable motivator to pay attention) or would they go into your inventory?

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Thecolours]

How much work would it be to code in duel wielding pistols or revolvers? That could make for a really fun perk or book

[madmole]

Yup...Loved it!! Miss it!! I truly beleieve that if you love your job....thats more than half the battle. Gotta wake up and enjoy what you are doing...money is not the only answer!!

 

Wow I just want to say thanks for your service, it was an insane event. Yes enjoying what you are doing makes a huge difference. I'm very grateful to work in games as it is very rewarding and fun industry to work in. I mean can you imagine influencing so many people with your work? Its really a crazy cool feeling to have so many passionate fans about what we're doing.

[Crater Creator]

Wow I just want to say thanks for your service, it was an insane event. Yes enjoying what you are doing makes a huge difference. I'm very grateful to work in games as it is very rewarding and fun industry to work in. I mean can you imagine influencing so many people with your work? Its really a crazy cool feeling to have so many passionate fans about what we're doing.

 

Well said. And on that note... are you ever going to fill the open positions on your website? I try not to bring it up too often, but working for you is a dream of mine.

[spatton1010]

This Is my first and probably only post. All I ask for is a spear or equivalent melee weapon with longer reach. When I play with my friends the game always has a little lag, it's just part of the game, so melee is impossible without getting hit. Having a weapon with extra range would be amazing.

Thanks, love the game.

[Roland]

This Is my first and probably only post. All I ask for is a spear or equivalent melee weapon with longer reach. When I play with my friends the game always has a little lag, it's just part of the game, so melee is impossible without getting hit. Having a weapon with extra range would be amazing.

Thanks, love the game.

 

Try the shovel while you wait. It is pretty spear-ish with it's jabbing animation and has an almost OP reach.

[madmole]

Since I have Jayick's mod with the katana and the electric chain stun mod, and if its like that this will be VERY popular...its fun as all hell!

 

He has it on a scythe, but jump to 24:40

 

 

(I forget how to post a yt video with the thumbnail... any mod want to fix?)

 

Yeah I watched that, something like that.

[madmole]

MadMole,

 

I was playing this morning and came up with an idea. I know you are not looking at adding 'mechanic' changes to A18, but you also said that if the idea is good enough it will gain traction, so here it goes.

 

~ Currently cupboards that are open signify that they are not searchable, and that streamlines looting and is all good. IMHO

~ If you want those cupboards to be functional the only way is to destroy them and make new ones.

~ which is not hard even day 1 they are easily crafted and replaced.

~ My idea to streamline this is:

~ make the open cabinets 'fixable/ repairable' and then they are 'fixed/ repaired' the door shuts and they are usable.

I do not know the logistics of this, but I think of it like a damaged block on the side of a POI that you can see through. You repair it and it becomes a solid wooden block. It seems like the cupboards could do the same thing, but repair into a functional cupboard. This would save time not having to craft new ones after knocking out the old ones. Just four right clicks with a stone axe, a cost of 4 wood and boom functioning cupboards.

Edit to add:

~ this could be done with fridges and ovens also. Repair with a wrench and costing scrap metal and maybe some electrical or mechanical parts or both and boom the door closes and you have a storage container. (as that is all the functionality they have for now.)

 

I know this is a little thing and probably a bit nit picky, but there it is. Have a great one!

 

Not a bad idea.

[madmole]

+++Joel PLEASE READ THIS+++

Do you have any plans for tweaking repairing system? I noticed that you can repair tools and weapons as many times as you want, so making new gear is not that necessary as it should be. I think it would be more logical to make items brake completely after several repairs (or lowing their durability stat to minimal number/losing stat point etc.) so players will be interested in finding better gear/repair kits.

 

Hope you'll see this post.

Best regards

What happens to your installed mod when it goes from tier 5 to tier 4? is it greyed out? Ejected? Also given the fact that legendary items are loot only and top tier weapons are not craftable without a schematic, I think people will be on the lookout for better gear a LOT more in A18. Perma degradation would have some issues to resolve IMO making it not very easy to add and it might just add more clunk and confusion to game play. I'd be angry to finally find a pink weapon and after some use its blue now, and a bit more and now its green, etc. Unless it was just field repair and at a work bench you could restore it to pristine condition.

 

Either way I think its more scope than want right now. We are more concerned with balancing everything we have and optimizing the game right now than adding new mechanics.

[madmole]

How much work would it be to code in duel wielding pistols or revolvers? That could make for a really fun perk or book

 

Way too much work to do something you can do already. If you want to fire more rounds, grab an SMG instead of a pistol.

[madmole]

Well said. And on that note... are you ever going to fill the open positions on your website? I try not to bring it up too often, but working for you is a dream of mine.

 

Those are filled but if an opportunity hire came along we'd hire them, so the jobs are still listed. You either need to have shipped a game or be a guild hall graduate to get a job as a world builder. Its so much more involved than people think it is. Study real world architecture, construction, and look at a lot of games.

 

I think we've brought on like 3 new level designers this last year and have a total of seven now. My advice is to fake it until you make it. In other words do what your dream job is at night and on weekends in your spare time. Pretty soon you will become just that, and be able to make a living at it. You have to have a portfolio full of amazing work, that is what gets you noticed. Work with modders on projects or just make your own. Two years from now you should have a portfolio full of amazing work to show off.

 

I haven't played guitar in 25 years and wasn't ever that great at it back in the day. I started playing 45 minutes a day 5-7 days a week and I think its my one year anniversary now, and I'm way better than I was when I quit. If you just commit to some reasonable amount of time nearly every day to practice a new craft you can get pretty good.

 

Judge your work and release your work as mods for others to download and listen to their crits with an open mind. That is the fastest way to improve. Start with small projects and advance to bigger ones. Make sure you finish everything, so once you finish a shed that is amazing, advance to a 1br house, then do a 2, then a mansion, etc. Lighting, detail that matters, interesting architecture, mood, theme and performance are all very important things to consider in design. Game flow as well, how does it play?

[JaxTeller718]

What happens to your installed mod when it goes from tier 5 to tier 4? is it greyed out? Ejected? Also given the fact that legendary items are loot only and top tier weapons are not craftable without a schematic, I think people will be on the lookout for better gear a LOT more in A18. Perma degradation would have some issues to resolve IMO making it not very easy to add and it might just add more clunk and confusion to game play. I'd be angry to finally find a pink weapon and after some use its blue now, and a bit more and now its green, etc. Unless it was just field repair and at a work bench you could restore it to pristine condition.

 

Either way I think its more scope than want right now. We are more concerned with balancing everything we have and optimizing the game right now than adding new mechanics.

 

Ravenhearst and WookieNookie (Our coder) has this covered. We have degradation and weapons and tools that break. When a weapon degrades it loses its slot, the mod is safely ejected into your backpack for later use.

 

This is one of those times (probably only so enjoy) that I will say let modders focus on that kind of stuff. Its a niche want anyway, not many will enjoy it.

 

That baton on the other hand looks amazing! Is that the type of weapons we will see as legendaries? Because if so I cant wait to see some more.

[Dimpy]

That baton on the other hand looks amazing! Is that the type of weapons we will see as legendaries? Because if so I cant wait to see some more.

 

Not exclusively legendary, because it's intended to be craftable to INT mains.

[madmole]

Ravenhearst and WookieNookie (Our coder) has this covered. We have degradation and weapons and tools that break. When a weapon degrades it loses its slot, the mod is safely ejected into your backpack for later use.

 

This is one of those times (probably only so enjoy) that I will say let modders focus on that kind of stuff. Its a niche want anyway, not many will enjoy it.

 

That baton on the other hand looks amazing! Is that the type of weapons we will see as legendaries? Because if so I cant wait to see some more.

 

Right, I don't think degradation lowering to the next tier is something needed in the base game, because of the problems to solve. What happens when the users backpack is full? Does it eject the mod on the ground?

 

The baton is designed for the INT player. We're trying to have a goto weapon and single perk tree to get good at that weapon under each attribute so players can specialize easier. So perception is no longer a catch all for every firearm. Strength is not a catch all for melee. An example is Agility has bows, gunslinger, and knives.

[Trankitas]

What happens to your installed mod when it goes from tier 5 to tier 4? is it greyed out? Ejected? Also given the fact that legendary items are loot only and top tier weapons are not craftable without a schematic, I think people will be on the lookout for better gear a LOT more in A18. Perma degradation would have some issues to resolve IMO making it not very easy to add and it might just add more clunk and confusion to game play. I'd be angry to finally find a pink weapon and after some use its blue now, and a bit more and now its green, etc. Unless it was just field repair and at a work bench you could restore it to pristine condition.

 

Either way I think its more scope than want right now. We are more concerned with balancing everything we have and optimizing the game right now than adding new mechanics.

 

Maybe it could work like this:

 

Weapons and Tools do not degrade in "color", maybe they could have 2 degradation bars, A normal degradation one (Can be repair to the max of that bar with repair kits or whatever) and a permanent degradation one (can't be repaired and once it goes down to 0 you cannot use that item anymore) BUT! your mods stay on that weapon/tool until you go to a workbench and dissemble that item to get you mods back (destroying the weapon/tool in the process and preventing mods dropping on the ground).

 

I think it's a pretty good system to spice things up a little bit and encourage the player to Buy/find/trade/craft new items occasionally. Right now you only need to have an decent number of repair kits and materials and you're set.

 

Have a good one!

 

Trankitas.

[omegarte]

You’re operating on the assumption that A18 perk system will be like A17 which it won’t. Madmole said that the taser will be the Intellect build melee weapon so it will be useful for those who specialize into intellect.

 

As has been mentioned all weapons and the ability to craft them at higher quality and possibly even to craft the ammo for them will be different than it now is. Some will be unlocked by perking into Strength, others into Perception, others into Agility, etc. No longer will crafting be completely controlled by Intellect.

 

I just hope it is a powerful melee weapon that is a lot of fun to use, very rare to find, and only unlocked deeply enough into intellect that the player actually does have to choose to specialize in order to get it.

 

Neat idea. So if I were the guessing type (and I am!), I would guess that heavy weapons like sledges are staying in the Strength tree and knives and machetes are moving to the Agility tree? I could also see some explosive weapons moving to Intelligence tree.

 

Interesting to see what guns get moved out of Perception tree. My guess is rifles stay with perception and pistols move to agility.

 

EDIT: madmole answered some of this in a previous post. my bad!

[Odetta]

Ravenhearst and WookieNookie (Our coder) has this covered. We have degradation and weapons and tools that break. When a weapon degrades it loses its slot, the mod is safely ejected into your backpack for later use.

 

This is one of those times (probably only so enjoy) that I will say let modders focus on that kind of stuff. Its a niche want anyway, not many will enjoy it.

 

That baton on the other hand looks amazing! Is that the type of weapons we will see as legendaries? Because if so I cant wait to see some more.

 

lol, currently playing your mod and I was super scared of losing my mods when I repaired, so i'd take them all out then repair. This clears things up.

 

I'm thinking legendaries will be the same models that are in game just with crazy stats or effects.

[Odetta]

The baton is designed for the INT player. We're trying to have a goto weapon and single perk tree to get good at that weapon under each attribute so players can specialize easier. So perception is no longer a catch all for every firearm. Strength is not a catch all for melee. An example is Agility has bows, gunslinger, and knives.

 

This is an awesome idea, the less pigeon holing the better. Actually making it a preference choice.

[bdubyah]

Still need to discuss all the smaller details. It might just have everlasting power otherwise if it ran out of ammo you would be totally defenseless and the idea is melee.

 

Just have an okay amount of base damage on it, with the bonus damage from the stun/shock effect. That way if the batteries run out, you could still manage to defend yourself. Or since it looks like it has a lever to activate it, you could maybe make it able to be turned off to save battery life while you beat on that single zed in front of you.

[DUST2DEATH]

 

My advice is to fake it until you make it. In other words do what your dream job is at night and on weekends in your spare time. Pretty soon you will become just that, and be able to make a living at it. You have to have a portfolio full of amazing work, that is what gets you noticed. Work with modders on projects or just make your own. Two years from now you should have a portfolio full of amazing work to show off.

 

Judge your work and release your work as mods for others to download and listen to their crits with an open mind. That is the fastest way to improve. Start with small projects and advance to bigger ones.

 

+1000000

[En_Dotter]

Out of curiosity, what happened to that spear we were "promised" a looong time ago?