FlowerChild Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 I've been tweaking the config files for 7 Days for awhile now to get a more hardcore experience out of the game, and with the release of Alpha 10 and the expanded modding potential of it, the result has evolved into something more akin to a full-blown mod. I've decided to share it in case there are any like-minded players out there that wish the game provided a more challenging survival experience with a more extended progression. Version 1.42 Of Better Than Giant Bees for Alpha 11.6 can be downloaded here: Download Link In broad terms: -It makes in-game progress slower and more involved. -Adds additional biome diversity where different biomes have different difficulty levels, and the more difficult ones also provide greater rewards. As a general rule: the more "alive" a biome is, the less dangerous it is. -Makes firearms much harder to find so that they're more valuable and worth maintaining given there isn't always another one right around the corner. -There's a clear line between "old world" tech and what you can make yourself with your primitive crafting abilities. For example, the only firearm you can make entirely from scratch (with the appropriate skill unlocks) are shotguns, while others can only be scavenged in part or in whole. Firearms in particular are treated as relics of a fallen civilization, in an almost "Mad Max" manner. -Eliminates the crossbow entirely given how game-breaking it is. -Moves most of the significant recipes in the game into skill books. You start with very basic survival skills, not even able to really build anything at all, and slowly unlock more as you progress. -Gets rid of the ability to set your spawn via sleeping bags/beds so that death is more meaningful. -Gets rid of the ability to place water source blocks given how prone that is to exploits. -Makes a whole whack of smaller changes to create what I think to be a more interesting experience overall. One big thing to note: *** This mod is NOT about realism *** I make changes to the game based on wanting a more challenging (and generally richer) survival gameplay experience, not because I wish for a more realistic one. Thus, suggestions made solely on the basis of realism will likely not be considered for inclusion into the mod. Suggestions that make a strong gameplay argument as to why something is more fun are much more likely to be well received. If you're familiar with my mods for other games, then you probably already have a good idea of the kind of experience I tend to aim for. Installation Instructions: -Copy all the files in the /Config directory of this .zip into your "/7 Days To Die/Data/Config" directory. Recommended game options for use in combination with BTGB (this is what I play with myself, so it's also what I'm balancing for): -Random World -Enemy Agression: Feral -Loot Abundance: 25% -Loot Respawn Time: Disabled -Air Drops: Disabled -All other options set to default. This is primarily intended as a single-player mod, or to be used with a small number of coop players, and has been balanced as such. If anything seems out of whack, let me know here as this is still very much a work in progress. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bart74 Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 wasn't making minecraft and KSP harder enough for you? you had to make 7DTD harder too... seems like nobody can stop you from making every games harder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocHussey Posted November 29, 2014 Share Posted November 29, 2014 Well. I'll be damned, if it isn't my Tentacled Overlord. Welcome to the forums boss, good to see that you're doing what you do best in a new game! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted November 29, 2014 Author Share Posted November 29, 2014 wasn't making minecraft and KSP harder enough for you? you had to make 7DTD harder too... seems like nobody can stop you from making every games harder... Hehe...well, I really do love this game. MC, KSP, and 7 Days are probably the games I play the most of, and I've been describing the latter as the most promising next-gen voxel game out there for quite awhile, but being able to breeze through the progression of 7 Days in the first few minutes of the game was not something I was enjoying in my own games. "Spawn, make axe, make crossbow, congrats...you're uber" just doesn't provide the apocalyptic survival experience I'm craving So yeah, I was largely altering the config files for my own play, sharing them on my own forums, and eventually it just got to the point where I decided I should probably release the thing publicly as I figured there has to be at least a couple of people here looking for a similar experience, and if I was putting all this effort into the thing anyways, they may as well get to enjoy it too. Well. I'll be damned, if it isn't my Tentacled Overlord. Welcome to the forums boss, good to see that you're doing what you do best in a new game! Thanks man, but over in these parts, I think the tentacles are all yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LORDPrometheus Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 i swear wherever mods can be made FlowerChild is not far behind to be honest i never like better than wolves much since it often didn't play nice with other mods so i only used it rarely but better than starting manned is one of my Go to mods for KSP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 i swear wherever mods can be made FlowerChild is not far behind Well, that's not entirely true. I honestly really hate starting new modding projects as they're a huge drain on my time, and I try to resist the urge like the plague, so I only ever really do so on my very favorite games. It just kinda happens without me planning it. I start off making little changes mostly for myself in my own play, and at a certain point realize I've made a mod and may as well release it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMS Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Heh... nice to see you here. Another KSP vet. I can see this being installed at some point. Still getting to grips with some of the basics first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infamous0ne Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Got it up and running on my server and love love love it. I would like to re enable the bed spawns though, is this difficult to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 Got it up and running on my server and love love love it. I would like to re enable the bed spawns though, is this difficult to do? Not really. If you search on "SleepingBag" in blocks.xml, you'll find I have commented out lines where that class gets assigned to the various bed types that look like this: <!-- FCMOD: Removed to get rid of beds and sleeping bags setting spawn points <property name="Class" value="SleepingBag" /> --> This occurs in a few different places for the different blocks that have this functionality (sleepings bags, beds, matresses, etc.). Uncomment those lines and they'll function again as normal. All my changes are labeled with "FCMOD" within the .xml files, usually with an explanation of what they're doing. That documentation was intended for my own use though, so if what I'm changing would be immediately obvious to me it may simply be labeled as a change with no other explanation. I would advise having a good think about it though before reactivating them, as having them makes death a largely trivial affair which is very easy to recover from. IMO, that really takes something away from the survival experience, especially given how easy beds are to find. Unless you fear death in survival games, everything else tends to lose meaning. Hence why so many are permadeath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infamous0ne Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 I agree I much prefer without the spawn but others I play with are well... picky. Thank you for the quick how to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xamllew Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Yeah, I kinda have a problem with the hardcore death spawn, it's just that game doesn't have a 3d sound engine yet and for me the most common cause of death is the occasional silent zombie slap concussion from behind which is completely unavoidable unless you're looking behind you every 10 seconds. I think being stuck at 30 wellness for days is punishment enough. I never thought of it, but you're right about crossbows, I always carry a shotgun when I go looting but I only ever use it on dogs or running zombies. Love your BTW mod for MC btw. I agree, I think 7dtd is going to be a big name in voxel games in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neb Posted December 1, 2014 Share Posted December 1, 2014 Spent the first three days "cracking" a safe with my fists, got one skill book to maintain guns after looting 4 bookcases and then proceeded to die later due to lack of a single POI safe haven after traveling for a day in the plains biome (night zombies). 10/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 Spent the first three days "cracking" a safe with my fists, got one skill book to maintain guns after looting 4 bookcases and then proceeded to die later due to lack of a single POI safe haven after traveling for a day in the plains biome (night zombies). 10/10 Well, I'd say those results are pretty predictable if you're determined to beat on metallic objects with your fists and refuse to turn around to existing shelter if it's getting late and haven't found any new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted December 1, 2014 Author Share Posted December 1, 2014 [**** NEW RELEASE ****] Version 1.12 of Better Than Giant Bees is ready for download! Download Link This release contains the following changes: -Updated the mod to Alpha 10.2 of 7 Days To Die. -Added a few new skill books which help break up the progression a bit more. These are using stock skill book icons mind you, so be sure to hover your mouse over skill books to see what they actually contain. -Added fried eggs as a new item that can be cooked up on a grill. Unfortunately, they still look like hard boiled eggs, but I assure you that's simply a hallucination brought on by radiation exposure. I added these because at a certain point, smashing your glass jars like a manly man every time you boil an egg gets rather old, and by the time you put together a grill, water supply is generally not an issue anymore. -Changed (increased) the chance of finding skill books in book cases slightly, since there are now more types of them to find in total. -Changed the weapon storage crate recipe to use a sharp stone instead of a crossbow bolt, since bolts can't be made in BTGB. -Changed (reduced) the chance of eggs being found in nests to help balance the addition of fried eggs and make them a slightly less reliable food source. -Changed (reduced) the time it takes to open "cracked" safes since the idea there is that they're already busted open, whereas in stock I assume it's supposed to represent the time it takes you to pick the lock. -Fixed a bunch of blocks that were still dropping block items upon destruction that I had missed previously (a bunch that dropped old wood, and fridges in particular). -Fixed the names on "Cracked" safes so that they look less like internal variable names when you are prompted to open them. -Removed the ability to use toilets as a water source as that just provides an easy water supply in the wasteland biome, and doesn't go well with the many decorative options that they provide. Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenzoMatterhorn Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 I've got a day off tomorrow and I can't wait to try this out. I really appreciate the quick turnaround on this! I was worried it wouldn't be ready in time for my day off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 I've got a day off tomorrow and I can't wait to try this out. I really appreciate the quick turnaround on this! I was worried it wouldn't be ready in time for my day off. No worries man! This isn't my first rodeo, so I've got everything setup internally to make porting from version to version relatively straightforward. It shouldn't take me too long to do so unless there's a seriously dramatic change to the game. All those "FCMOD" comments in the .xml files, and the very particular way I format them, are very much "by design" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr4x Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 hey flowerchild, i like the way you think about the game. Maybe you like some of my little mods for your big mod, like my little bullet drop mod for the sniper rifle. A little bit dayz style, u know Greetz from Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 Maybe you like some of my little mods for your big mod, like my little bullet drop mod for the sniper rifle. A little bit dayz style, u know Couldn't find the mod you're talking about (searched your post history), but I'm really trying to restrict myself to only making changes to the .xml files at present for the sake of maintainability, at least until the Pimp's put a more robust modding system in place. Besides, even with just what's readily accessible at present, I'm finding I already have a ton of stuff to play around with and keep me busy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neb Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Well, I'd say those results are pretty predictable if you're determined to beat on metallic objects with your fists and refuse to turn around to existing shelter if it's getting late and haven't found any new Whether I had opened up the safe or not by leaving a book on my mouse to continually hit said object, death was an inevitability in that save unless I were to hide a block or two underground for the night between POIs. Although what's the fun in that? The possibility of dying is much more exciting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tr4x Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 No, havent presented this already, only for my little comunity on a private pve server. And its a komplete .xml mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted December 2, 2014 Author Share Posted December 2, 2014 Whether I had opened up the safe or not by leaving a book on my mouse to continually hit said object, death was an inevitability in that save unless I were to hide a block or two underground for the night between POIs. Although what's the fun in that? The possibility of dying is much more exciting! Ok, first, the point of the safe cracking thing is more so that the safes remain more or less off limits until you have higher level tools (iron picks, augers, explosives etc.) to open them with, not a matter of which starting item you do or do not have in your hand while you're beating on it If it were possible, I'd likely mod it so that a safe could *never* be opened with a fist/book/stone-axe/whatever, but that's currently beyond what can be done through the .xml files. I've actually got more planned for the safes in the upcoming release so that they serve as a more definite bottleneck to progression and so that your ability to effectively open them is essentially a "level up" into a new tier of progress. And yes, avoiding death is entirely possible in those situations man. If you plan for needing to turn around if it gets too late and you can't find a place to hide, then those situations won't happen. Sure, if you don't plan ahead and go out too far past the point of no return, at a certain point your death is basically guaranteed, but that's entirely the player's fault at that point. I'm also uncertain how you can not find a POI given how massively abundant (I'd say too abundant) they are in Alpha 10. If you follow a road, you're pretty much guaranteed to hit one in a few hundred meters (if I leave one at 7am, I usually arrive at another before 10am and have the rest of the day for looting). Is it theoretically possible not to be able to find one right at the start of the game and for death to be an inevitability? Sure. But at that point you also don't have anything to lose. It's also never happened to me in the many early-game play throughs I've been doing as I work on this thing, so I suspect it's exceptionally rare in practice (assuming you're actively searching for shelter as a top priority). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neb Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 @ Flowerchild Woah, don't think the way I conveyed my last two posts was the greatest. Can see how the last one probably came off as sarcastic and the one before a little douchey. Would have been more fitting for me to just outline straight-up that I actually love this mod and its challenges. :TLDR of the original wall of text that nobody wants to read. 1. Perfectly aware of how to survive in any of the situations that 7DTD presents, though I often choose for death to be an inevitability and not utilize certain methods for the sake of a "fun death" (akin to Dwarf Fortress). 2. Personally just had really "bad luck" in my last couple of play-throughs trying to reach any POI via following roads. For instance on my last one I had to walk/run for 1.5 days along a road to find a POI (stopping in the wasteland biome and utilizing concrete->gravel for a temp shelter at night). So again, my apologies if I came off as bashing or angry in my posts. Actually love the new level of difficulty that this mod presents on top of Insane and applaud you for your efforts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 So again, sorry if I came off as bashing or angry in my quips. Actually love the new level of difficulty that this mod presents on top of Insane and applaud you for your efforts. No no, not at all man. Please do not take me discussing games and game design very seriously as me being in any way upset. It's my primary passion in life, so there's pretty much no topic I discuss in a more serious manner If there really are deaths that the player can do nothing about in the mod (vanilla issues aside, like zombies spawning right on top of you, which the Pimps will hopefully resolve with time), I want to know about it so that I can revise the design so that it won't happen. Hence why I am keen on debating whether a situation really is "no win" or not. My mods have often been described before as "brutal but fair". I like to make things as tough as I can on the player as long as skilled and intelligent play will consistently keep you alive, because that's the kind of game I enjoy myself. That's an extremely fine line to walk however where things can easily fall on the wrong side of the fair/random line, and mistakes inevitably get made on occasion if I push things too far. Designing hard games that don't come across as arbitrary in play is almost a skill unto itself. If someone brings up a situation where they think they died through no fault of their own, I tend to argue that out until it is certain one way or another. There's nothing personal in that at all So, yeah man, no worries at all, and glad you're enjoying it. If you do run into a situation where you feel no amount of skill or forethought on your part would have let you survive it, please don't hesitate to let me know as it's entirely possible at this stage in the mod's development that there are things I haven't yet taken into account. If people die, I really want them to be eventually realizing that it was their own fault in one way or another. If that's not the case, then I've gone wrong somewhere along the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neb Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Is there another book you need other than Forging Ahead to make lumps of clay? Edit: Yup, there's a pottery book as well. Ah, cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlowerChild Posted December 3, 2014 Author Share Posted December 3, 2014 Is there another book you need other than Forging Ahead to make lumps of clay? Yup, there's a pottery book as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.