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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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That was a great read. What attributes have you focused into so far in your test builds? If you ended up with some nice weapons from one you've already tested, would you have chosen to focus into it again? Also, I thought the dire wolf was a late gamestage thing. Scary!

 

I love the new spear so I have pretty much done Perception and Strength combo when playing. The save that got borked was an intelligence build but I only got to Day 8 on that and finally found a stun baton on Day 6. I really like the stun baton. It is a fast melee weapon and every 3-4 hits the electricity comes on and then when you hit the zombie it is convulsing from the electrical effect for about 5 seconds or so and you can go and wail on its head and pretty much finish it before it can try and fight back. I'd say its probably 1.5 times as fast to swing as the wooden club which definitely felt sluggish after using the stun baton.

 

A stun baton was one of the weapons I found in this newest play so I might decide to try intellect again. If I find a scrap turret and if it is working that will seal the deal. Otherwise I will probably go perception again since I have an iron spear already and I LOVE the spear. I haven't spent any points yet and I expect to have close 8 to spend by Day 8 provided I don't die any more and continue to lose earned xp.

 

As for the wolf it was big and black and not gray and it was in the distance and I gave it a wide berth as I went on my way. So I think it was a dire wolf but I didn't want to know for sure that badly.

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I love the new spear so I have pretty much done Perception and Strength combo when playing. The save that got borked was an intelligence build but I only got to Day 8 on that and finally found a stun baton on Day 6. I really like the stun baton. It is a fast melee weapon and every 3-4 hits the electricity comes on and then when you hit the zombie it is convulsing from the electrical effect for about 5 seconds or so and you can go and wail on its head and pretty much finish it before it can try and fight back. I'd say its probably 1.5 times as fast to swing as the wooden club which definitely felt sluggish after using the stun baton.

 

A stun baton was one of the weapons I found in this newest play so I might decide to try intellect again. If I find a scrap turret and if it is working that will seal the deal. Otherwise I will probably go perception again since I have an iron spear already and I LOVE the spear. I haven't spent any points yet and I expect to have close 8 to spend by Day 8 provided I don't die any more and continue to lose earned xp....

 

Neat, thank you. It is really interesting to read about the experiences you testers are having.(Hint to the others that may want to share some highlights! ;D) The more I hear about this intellect build, the more I am interested in trying it despite agility being tailor-made for my usual playstyle.

 

You mentioned if you find a turret AND if it is working? Are there weapons that are so broken that repair kits don't work and they are only good for their parts?

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(My life sucks)

Thanks ! I really prefer to read the story of an adventure rather than watching a video. Much more feelings, much less spoilers :)

 

As for the wolf it was big and black and not gray and it was in the distance and I gave it a wide berth as I went on my way. So I think it was a dire wolf but I didn't want to know for sure that badly.

You know that when you approach a wolf, you can use the wrench to see if it's a dire or a normal one, right?

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Living out Kenny Rogers "The Gambler" song the wrong way... :)

 

Sounds like a "Dead-is-Dead" game is going to be a real challenge now.

 

What attribute a person ends up focusing on is still wide open, but I'm starting to think there are two attributes that are needed early game.

 

Just like in Chess, only a few moves are good openings.

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Are you out of your Vulcan mind?

 

With all the effort of trying to improve 7D2D in FPS why not at least give it a try to see for yourself?

(it is better then directX, wink wink)

 

https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-driver

 

https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/vulkan :

Vulkan™ supports close-to-metal control enabling faster performance and better image quality across Windows® 7, Windows® 8.1, Windows® 10, and Linux®. No other graphics API offers the same powerful combination of OS compatibility, rendering features, and hardware efficiency.

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Finally caught up with the thread and IMO TFP are spot on with progress of the game.

 

7D2D Vanilla should keep systems simple and elegant, concentrate on performance and play ability that gets the new players hooked.

 

The sliders and choices at set up allow players to adjust the game to their style and needs, once the have played several times.

 

XML mods allow even more adjustment which is neat and there are loads of simple mods to enhance the game.

 

I have nearly 3000 hours of game play and decided to give Ravenhearst a go, while waiting for A18 to drop. With all the chatter about dumb down systems and how thing should be more complex etc on the forum.

Whilst I will say it is very well done and the variety is huge, It is extremely frustrating and a micro managing nightmare, If I hadn't played so much 7D2D and thoroughly enjoyed and been engaged by it, I would have simply given up and played something more fun.

 

So keep doing you MM and TFP, the game is great and on track, I await A18 with baited breath and for those experienced players wanting more depth through complex systems, micro management and convoluted based on realism within a fantasy setting game play, give Ravenhearst a try it actually runs quite well, and leave TFP to get the base game balanced and engaging.

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I was able to get three charred meat out of it and wolfed them down. Then noticing I had one clump of fat in my inventory I shrugged and popped that in my mouth too.

 

I threw up. My food and water and max stamina immediately went to 25.

 

I know it's been mentioned before, but I think it's been tweaked a couple of times so I'm now a bit confused.

 

What can you actually do to reduce or eliminate the risk of throwing up from bad food?

 

Do cooking perks reduce it? Is there still an "Iron Stomach" perk that reduces it? Are there advanced recipes that can be found that have less chance than the more basic recipes?

 

Basically, I'm (possibly wrongly) assuming that there is some kind of progression or advancement and in the later game you don't spend all your time puking after every other meal - so what is it that advances?

 

Or is there no way to mitigate it, and it's just that in the late game you're assumed to have lots of food and can therefore afford to eat-puke-eat-puke-eat each meal?

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Better performance, for starters... https://www.theouterhaven.net/2016/07/vulkan-vs-opengl-doom-2016-no-content/

 

Plus it's an open API that is supported by Windows, Mac, and Linux.... And it's already supported by the Unity Engine.

 

Supported by Linux is a bit of a stretch. Last time I checked it was supported on Linux by a limited set of hardware and an even more limited set of distros.

 

No doubt that has improved by now but given the state of it at the beginning it would have been very hard to make it worse.

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There's this little-known invention called a 'ladder'...

 

But in all honesty i have a bit of ptsd with ladders, from that one time when zombies burst into my base i was trying to run up the ladder to the surface so i could escape with my life, but the zombies were determined and they just kept on coming....

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To be honest, I feel a bit disappointed with the direction that this game is going. Please TFP, and fellow gamers... treat this as a constructive criticism, I am not bashing or attacking anyone.

 

I am a veteran player, I play since Alpha 1, I loved the game and it still has a place in my heart, but this is in NO WAY a ZOMBIE apocalypse game. You should definitely change the description of the game, because there is not even a single thing that is zombie like in the game.

 

I know Madmole said that their "zombies" have a unique lore, something like World War Z, but at least don't call it a zombie game because it's not and the "zombies" in World War Z are not zombies, they are just infected people that bite other people to spread the disease, because they feel driven to spread the disease thanks to the virus they are infected with. So if I am infected with a virus that makes me bite people...that makes me a zombie? No, end of story. You can't take a carbonara pasta recipe and add tomato sauce and call it carbonara pasta, because it is not. Feel free to eat the way you want, the sky is the limit and if you like carbonara base recipe + tomato sauce, go for it, but don't call it carbonara. Let's say I develop a racing game and it is meant to be a racing game, but after a lot of alphas I think: "Hmmm, let's add a combat system to the game, guns mounted on cars, special abilities, etc" which would totally make the game something else than what it was meant to be in the first place, now it is a racing-combat game, which was not meant to be when it was created.

 

Really now, zombies that are smart and avoid traps? Zombies that feel pain and grab their arm/leg when you hit them with the fireaxe or whatever? Zombies that are radiated? Zombies that puke (cops)? Zombies that punch/slap/hit you? A zombie is a living dead, it doesn't feel pain, it doesn't have special abilities and it is certainly not intelligent. Festering corpse is the name of a zombie, really? Corpse? Since when does a corpse feel pain?

 

I am very disappointed that you made all the normal zombies smart....the traps are totally worthless when you got a horde that can easily avoid them. "Hey, let's surround our base 360 degrees with traps so the "zombies" would walk into them". This is the only way to play A17. This should be a zombie apocalypse game, and it was meant to be so from the very beginning, at least change the description to "infected people apocalypse game" or whatever. Now you will say "It's too easy even with intelligent zombies, so, why take away the challenge? It would be too boring and easy". Well, you got cops, vultures, ferals, dogs, bears, radiated people, spiders and now you will get demolisher "zombie" in A18 plus Behemoth that may or may not come in future alphas...so if you complain about lack of challenge, then ask TFP to make more unique CREATURES, because they can't be called zombies. Plus the bandits are coming, so they will certainly be a challenge.

 

You have a right to agree or disagree with me, and before you bash me because of this criticism, you should know that I have the right to open my mouth and say my opinion, and I am in no way "butthurt". This is not an attack to TFP, just constructive criticism, treat it like that.

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It was not just a door issue. They could get pushed through walls. It was a few days work, but I reworked the controller collision overlap code so it always resolves world collisions first.

 

Changes:

 

Fixed SDTD-9909 Large crowds of zombies can jump, be pushed, fall through, or get stuck inside doors and blocks (changed KCC overlap handling to do world hits before entity, then closest entity using smaller depenetrate and skip if had a world hit. EntityMoveHelper will not ragdoll other entities).

Fixed AI jump could make KCC go into ceiling (added zero y motion).

 

Thanks Faatal. Hmmm...the zombie's would really be desperate to get to you because you have so much brainz.

 

Oh, btw, do you know if the pathing on the wooden stairs normally leading up into the attics has been fixed? Zombies would rarely path down it and instead just break them and you were perfectly safe even with a 1m gap between you and the zombie. It's like the zombies didn't know they could walk on them.

 

Cheers

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Just call them "infected people" and everything's gonna be allright. Smart players want smart "infected people".

 

No, it's not gonna be alright. If I make a racing game and I add a combat system to the game and maybe some sci-fi flying mechanics, doesn't that make me a hypocrite? It does, because I promised a racing game, not a racing-combat-sci-fi game. This game is becoming less and less zombie like and it should not be so. I still enjoy it, but it's becoming worse and worse when it comes to "zombies". At least add more unique infected people if you want a challenge but make normal "infected people" feel normal.

 

If I go on the street and I want to sell lemonade, why would I change the recipe after a few months and add strawberries in it or whatever? My goal was to sell normal lemonade, not some combination of lemonade + other fruits, at least I could have told people about selling a combination from the very beginning or change the description of the "shop".

 

And please, don't speak for every smart player. Games4kickz which is a veteran youtuber complained about normal zombies being smart, so you got a proof that not all smart players want "smart zombies".

 

11:06

horde.jpg.56c6a5093f94cebbeb486e30d7555c54.jpg

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No, it's not gonna be alright. If I make a racing game and I add a combat system to the game and maybe some sci-fi flying mechanics, doesn't that make me a hypocrite? It does, because I promised a racing game, not a racing-combat-sci-fi game. This game is becoming less and less zombie like and it should not be so. I still enjoy it, but it's becoming worse and worse when it comes to "zombies". At least add more unique infected people if you want a challenge but make normal "infected people" feel normal.

 

If I go on the street and I want to sell lemonade, why would I change the recipe after a few months and add strawberries in it or whatever? My goal was to sell normal lemonade, not some combination of lemonade + other fruits, at least I could have told people about selling a combination from the very beginning or change the description of the "shop".

 

And please, don't speak for every smart player. Games4kickz which is a veteran youtuber complained about normal zombies being smart, so you got a proof that not all smart players want "smart zombies".

 

Zombies, ghouls, super-mutants...call them whatever you like. They are 'the threat'. Games gotta have a threat that's fun and challenging. Sometimes you have to break from 'lore'. If the threat in 7D wasn't somewhat 'smart', you'd live on a roof and win the game on day 1. What's the point in that?

 

Anyway, you need to get over the semantics of the whole zombie lore thing...like there's rules for how zombies behave and scores on how well they do on SAT's. I mean, they retained motor control of their limbs and jaws...is it such a stretch that they retained some brain function as well? It's all just electrical impulses when you get down to it.

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Zombies, ghouls, super-mutants...call them whatever you like. They are 'the threat'. Games gotta have a threat that's fun and challenging. Sometimes you have to break from 'lore'. If the threat in 7D wasn't somewhat 'smart', you'd live on a roof and win the game on day 1. What's the point in that?

 

Anyway, you need to get over the semantics of the whole zombie lore thing...like there's rules for how zombies behave and scores on how well they do on SAT's. I mean, they retained motor control of their limbs and jaws...is it such a stretch that they retained some brain function as well? It's all just electrical impulses when you get down to it.

 

I just told you, make normal zombies feel normal, but if you want a challenge, add unique "zombies". It's like you didn't even read the whole thing. At least I am not the only one that dislikes the horde night, which is completely ♥♥♥♥, no offense to TFP. Well, you can't stay on the roof all the time because you need to go and hunt and scavenge, unless you want to use the creative menu to get yourself free meals.

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