Another "direction of the game thread" and iam concerned...

[Ac75]

It's not difficult if you want to mod A16 with War of the Walkers.

 

You just DL the mod, unzip it, and put all the stuff that gets unzipped into your 7 Days folder, and Overwrite/Merge/Yes when it asks you to, and then you launch the game with the 7 Days EXE in you main folder you just put all that stuff into.

 

I'm not even a mod-guy and I figured it out.

 

I went ahead and did it after trying both A17 and A18 rather extensively and I'm having the best SP game, not just 7 Days, I mean a Single Player game in general, that I've had in a very long time.

 

I know I'm a broken record. Yes im tiny-percentage-promoting it cuz I need a buddy, haha = But no, In the 1000 hours I have with 7 Days, getting WOTW 5.3 was the best thing I ever did.

[AtomicUs5000]

I wonder what governs the sleepers 'sleepyness'. Sometimes they wake up when a fly farts at the frontdoor, other zombies don't wake up even after bashing down the closetdoor right in front of them with a club and shining a torch in their face

The scene from Hot-Shots Part Deux where they try to get the keys comes to mind

 

Load up some POIs in the prefab editor. You will see that every sleeper spawn has hearing settings. The ones that wake up when a fly farts are probably set to 100% hearing or something close. From what I have seen, most POI designers don’t even tweak these settings. It’s either full or set really low for the closet zombies.

[-Holo-]

Load up some POIs in the prefab editor. You will see that every sleeper spawn has hearing settings. The ones that wake up when a fly farts are probably set to 100% hearing or something close. From what I have seen, most POI designers don’t even tweak these settings. It’s either full or set really low for the closet zombies.

 

Ugh, That explains alot. We went in a house yesterday, me with double-barreled shotgun firing off a bunch of rounds in the livingroom, and a couple of zombies sleeping tight in the next room. (Although I have a friend that could probably do that too hmm)

 

Had this been A15, zombies from the whole block would come after us

[-Holo-]

Most of my suggestions are rejected as well and there have been times I’ve suggested them on the dev chat and gotten some support from members of the team but then it was ultimately shot down by one of the lead programmers.

 

I dabbled a bit in boardgame design about a decade ago and felt I had a great idea and of course all my friends and family agreed when they played it. But when I contacted a few publishers they rejected my submission. Shortly after, I went to a gaming convention and had an opportunity to talk to someone in the industry and he told me that most game companies have 2-3 years worth of ideas they already have in queue to develop and release so they never need or particularly want new ideas.

He said to break into the industry I would need to self publish possibly via crowd funding.

 

The same is true of this game. The devs have already decided on the ideas they want to choose and they really aren’t in the market for new ideas. Most things people suggest have already been discussed and either rejected or given a priority of when to implement.

 

If you really want your suggestion to come to be you either need to finance your own game or mod this one. I felt very strongly about going to a design that bypassed xp and made player progression dependent upon time survived. My suggestion was rejected. Now I have a mod for it and it makes for an interesting alternative feel for the game. I love that there are no xp rewards causing players to do things. All you need to do is survive for a full day and then you get a skillpoint no matter what you did.

 

The point is I didn’t cry about insensitive devs. I got to work and learned how to create modlets and asked for help and now my suggestion is a reality for anyone who cares to try it.

 

I just wish the features we are missing -could- be modded back. Then this whole debacle with the game changing it's style would be moot.

(Some of the extremely talented modders could maybe hack the dll's a bit for it, but that's a league of it's own)

Do you happen to know what kind of modsupport they have planned for gold? If it's 'just' xml like now or stronger modtools to alter the .dll's and core files?

[Ac75]

I just wish the features we are missing -could- be modded back. Then this whole debacle with the game changing it's style would be moot.

(Some of the extremely talented modders could maybe hack the dll's a bit for it, but that's a league of it's own)

Do you happen to know what kind of modsupport they have planned for gold? If it's 'just' xml like now or stronger modtools to alter the .dll's and core files?

 

What one person was able to do with War of the Walkers was incredibly impressive. Pretty sure it was all one guy.

[-Holo-]

What one person was able to do with War of the Walkers was incredibly impressive. Pretty sure it was all one guy.

 

Gonna try to take a look at it this weekend hopefully, promised my group I'd gut the xml of A18 and remove and rewrite a bunch of stuffs to make it back into a survival game (if possible )

It's always tricky to 'downgrade' alphas for me, since there is after all a bunch of tech that I enjoy and would still like to have that each alpha has brought.

 

While Playing A15, although having a blast, It's always that feeling of missing the new POI's and new Zombies, Power and Paint, Etc.

A16 I think probably could be a somewhat sweetspot, even though I'd miss the mod system and A18's Occlusion which were great.

And the modlet system is also hard to turn back on.

 

I'm currently waiting in anticipation of Darkness Falls for Alpha 18, we ran it on A17 and that really saved that version and made it quite enjoyable again.

[Ghostlight]

I agree and disagree. People with fragile emotions will get hurt. People with confidence will generally not be hurt by having an idea shot down by the devs. It could also be that some people have this image that there idea is solid gold and so anyone who has anything to say against it is taken as a personal attack. People just need to get thicker skin and stop and think.

 

There is also a big difference between their response to an idea and their response to a criticism. I think we are talking about the latter.

[Ghostlight]

The same is true of this game. The devs have already decided on the ideas they want to choose and they really aren’t in the market for new ideas. Most things people suggest have already been discussed and either rejected or given a priority of when to implement.

 

In that case it is rather maddening that the ideas they have decided on for the most part are non-original and appear already in tons of other games. Ideas which would be considered bland and generic by old-timers to this game. Perk system comes to mind as a prime example. With each passing alpha it gets closer and closer to same old crap seen in every RPG ever: kill enemies to gain XP to level up to gain points to spend on any talent you like. Snoooze.

[Ghostlight]

It's not difficult if you want to mod A16 with War of the Walkers.

 

You just DL the mod, unzip it, and put all the stuff that gets unzipped into your 7 Days folder, and Overwrite/Merge/Yes when it asks you to, and then you launch the game with the 7 Days EXE in you main folder you just put all that stuff into.

 

I am very tempted by this. A16 was by the best alpha for me. I never had weird respawns in cleared rooms that many complained about and that alpha was the sublime high poit in the mechanics department. Just so I'm clear on how to do this....I'd have to set the game to A16.4 and install that first, as normal, through Steam, and only then drop the unzipped mod files on top, right?

 

This would also mean I'd lose the ability to play A18 though, right?

[-Holo-]

I am very tempted by this. A16 was by the best alpha for me. I never had weird respawns in cleared rooms that many complained about and that alpha was the sublime high poit in the mechanics department. Just so I'm clear on how to do this....I'd have to set the game to A16.4 and install that first, as normal, through Steam, and only then drop the unzipped mod files on top, right?

 

This would also mean I'd lose the ability to play A18 though, right?

 

You can probably install 16.4 with steam, copy that 7days to die folder and rename it to something else, and then install A18 back.

probably need go to under your username/appdata/local folder (i think) and rename the 7 days to die folder there to keep them separated.

I have A14 7 Days to die, A15 7 Days to die, A5 7 days to die etc folders there and just rename them when I want to change version to play.

 

The mod launcher might be able to do all that for you though. never used it

[meganoth]

If you want hard POIS, my friend, many of the POIS in War of the Walkers are stuffed with Custom Zeds, like Glowy Head Business guys.

 

There's a Department Store POI in WOTW that has more gun safes that I've ever seen in one place, with a couple behind bulletproof glass, and going in that place is GNARLY! It seems the mod maker really stuffed key, high loot POIs with real high level Zeds.

 

I can't even do most of the POIs in WOTW alone.

 

Wotw is great but it needed some time to mature. In A15 it was a loot bonanza, we stopped playing it after 2 in-game weeks because we were overflowing with loot. But the maker of the mod learned a lot over time and the A16 version was already much improved because he threw out the worst offender POI's for example.

Before A18 came out we played the A17 version of WotW again and it was great fun.

 

In that case it is rather maddening that the ideas they have decided on for the most part are non-original and appear already in tons of other games. Ideas which would be considered bland and generic by old-timers to this game. Perk system comes to mind as a prime example. With each passing alpha it gets closer and closer to same old crap seen in every RPG ever: kill enemies to gain XP to level up to gain points to spend on any talent you like. Snoooze.

 

Yeah, as if LBD was something new. Painting it as original and new is taking it a little too far.

 

You can probably install 16.4 with steam, copy that 7days to die folder and rename it to something else, and then install A18 back.

probably need go to under your username/appdata/local folder (i think) and rename the 7 days to die folder there to keep them separated.

I have A14 7 Days to die, A15 7 Days to die, A5 7 days to die etc folders there and just rename them when I want to change version to play.

 

The mod launcher might be able to do all that for you though. never used it

 

Maybe it should be mentioned that you can only start one version from steam if you do it without mod launcher, the copies have to be started by executing the start script in the install folder directly.

 

My co-op friends use the mod launcher. Very useful if you play with mods. You can have multiple games around at the same time with different mods installed. The launcher takes care of handling the mod download, install and the game start.

[JaxTeller718]

Poor Ravenhearst

[Kalen]

Poor Ravenhearst

 

Ravenhearst legit creeped me out. I loved the added sounds... really added to the ambiance.

[Ghostlight]

Yeah, as if LBD was something new. Painting it as original and new is taking it a little too far.

 

Actually I disagree with you . LBD in A16.4 was in fact a hybrid system. You still had points to spend, but you could spend on skills that you had never used - however that was a very expensive way of raising those skills compared to actually using them. But you had the choice if you wanted it. It was a very neat system and I have never seen its like in any other game.

[meganoth]

Actually I disagree with you . LBD in A16.4 was in fact a hybrid system. You still had points to spend, but you could spend on skills that you had never used - however that was a very expensive way of raising those skills compared to actually using them. But you had the choice if you wanted it. It was a very neat system and I have never seen its like in any other game.

 

Agreed, that was actually a novel idea.

 

(unless a dev intervenes now and tells us about some obscure game they copied the idea from)

[Psychodabble]

I am afraid you guys are a bit biased.

 

When you have an idea, you are usually very invested in it. When it is rejected by a dev a person will feel emotionaly hurt and start seeing the other person in negative light and will be much more critical. I suffer from this too, I posted many ideas here. I found out its about learning how to properly communicate the idea and making peace in advance that it will probably not be implemented.

 

I am very well familiar with development and know full well that there are many variables that need to be taken into account - development time, costs, competing features, balance etc. Most things will be rejected.

 

In the end, devs are people too so lets cut them some slack and lets not take it too personally. Madmole is cool even through he snaps sometimes or he does not really read the feedback thoroughly. Fataal is pretty profesional in my opinion and cannot really say anything bad about him. Gazz on the other hand can be quite condescending...most of the time.

 

I'm not only talking about my ideas. It's a more general observation formed over the years.

 

I don't care about being rejected, I care about being taken seriously. It seems like the devs choose to interact with overly emotional children too often and consequently end up treating everyone like that.

[Psychodabble]

Really, if you think a thoughtful post is all that is needed to be followed you are kidding yourself. I made lots of reasonable suggestions (in my view) and I think about two were actually implemented and most likely that was just coincidence.

 

I'm not deluded. I don't expect every suggestion I make to be followed, nor do I expect the developers to bow to my preferences.

 

Again, this isn't just about my ideas. It's about a lot of well thought out ideas advanced by a lot of different posters intended to address major issues with the game. They get ignored or a flippant, one sentence reply. Questions go unanswered and threads fall into the waste bin.

 

Meanwhile, some petulant child posts a thread titled "THIS GAEM SUXXORS" and the devs go back and forth for pages and pages defending against ridiculous, non-constructive criticism that was clearly going nowhere from the start.

 

It doesn't make sense to me and clearly I'm not the only one who has noticed it.

[Psychodabble]

The point is I didn’t cry about insensitive devs. I got to work and learned how to create modlets and asked for help and now my suggestion is a reality for anyone who cares to try it.

 

And there's the ♥♥♥♥ty attitude. I dare to criticize, so I'm "crying". Is it so hard to just be respectful?

[SonicSonedit]

melee in 18

Summarized in one video:

[Roland]

And there's the ♥♥♥♥ty attitude. I dare to criticize, so I'm "crying". Is it so hard to just be respectful?

 

First of all I didn't quote you or anyone for a reason. I wasn't directing what I said at you or anyone in particular. I'm sorry if you took it personally. I was merely stating a general statement about what I personally did not do. I did not cry = I didn't get offended by the rejection, I instead made it happen. The changes I wanted to make were also not possible merely through xml edits but there are many good people willing to help those who want to mod the game.

 

I know that Madmole can be brusk at times but it is usually in response to an insultingly written piece of feedback. I've been watching the A18 Feedback thread and he has on multiple occasions accepted feedback graciously and looked into changing things that needed changing. Again, you and Ghostlight are assuming that when someone offers up a good idea that it is the first time they've heard it or consider it and when they immediately reject it the assumption is again that it was barely considered or not considered at all. Finally, I know for a fact that most if not all of the posts you might point to as examples of being dismissive, sarcastic, or snarky from a developer on an issue is after an idea was rejected people won't let it go and they keep badgering him about it.

 

We've been told that there will be native tools and hooks for doing modding beyond simple xml edits. I think that unofficially DMT has been developed by modders who have a line in with Alloc and so that process is already developing. I would be willing to bet that by time the game goes gold and the devs create workshop support and release modding tools they will be in ....ahem....harmony....with what is being developed now if not outright adopting what is being developed now. There is no official word on this yet as it is still too soon for the developers to be doing mod support while they are still developing the actual game but there is definitely a link between the dev team and the modding community.

[Roland]

I'm not deluded. I don't expect every suggestion I make to be followed, nor do I expect the developers to bow to my preferences.

 

Again, this isn't just about my ideas. It's about a lot of well thought out ideas advanced by a lot of different posters intended to address major issues with the game. They get ignored or a flippant, one sentence reply. Questions go unanswered and threads fall into the waste bin.

 

Meanwhile, some petulant child posts a thread titled "THIS GAEM SUXXORS" and the devs go back and forth for pages and pages defending against ridiculous, non-constructive criticism that was clearly going nowhere from the start.

 

It doesn't make sense to me and clearly I'm not the only one who has noticed it.

 

I think at the least you are grossly exaggerating. There have been pages of the dev diary where Madmole has argued with those who will just not take no for an answer but someone creates a thread about the game sucking and a dev goes to that thread and argues for pages defending ridiculous criticism? I think I see Madmole, Faatal, and Gazz rarely post in threads outside the official dev communication threads and of the three Gazz is the most prolific but also the most brief in his posts.

[ZombieSurvivor]

First of all I didn't quote you or anyone for a reason. I wasn't directing what I said at you or anyone in particular. I'm sorry if you took it personally. I was merely stating a general statement about what I personally did not do. I did not cry = I didn't get offended by the rejection, I instead made it happen. The changes I wanted to make were also not possible merely through xml edits but there are many good people willing to help those who want to mod the game.

 

I know that Madmole can be brusk at times but it is usually in response to an insultingly written piece of feedback. I've been watching the A18 Feedback thread and he has on multiple occasions accepted feedback graciously and looked into changing things that needed changing. Again, you and Ghostlight are assuming that when someone offers up a good idea that it is the first time they've heard it or consider it and when they immediately reject it the assumption is again that it was barely considered or not considered at all. Finally, I know for a fact that most if not all of the posts you might point to as examples of being dismissive, sarcastic, or snarky from a developer on an issue is after an idea was rejected people won't let it go and they keep badgering him about it.

 

We've been told that there will be native tools and hooks for doing modding beyond simple xml edits. I think that unofficially DMT has been developed by modders who have a line in with Alloc and so that process is already developing. I would be willing to bet that by time the game goes gold and the devs create workshop support and release modding tools they will be in ....ahem....harmony....with what is being developed now if not outright adopting what is being developed now. There is no official word on this yet as it is still too soon for the developers to be doing mod support while they are still developing the actual game but there is definitely a link between the dev team and the modding community.

 

Yes and I think that link is Guppy's discord channel lol.

 

Hint hint for all you would be modders.

[SonicSonedit]

I think Roland honestly shouldn't reply to such disrepectfull posts.

Option to toggle sleepers respawn off when you are inside building would be very welcome though.

[Ac75]

I am very tempted by this. A16 was by the best alpha for me. I never had weird respawns in cleared rooms that many complained about and that alpha was the sublime high poit in the mechanics department. Just so I'm clear on how to do this....I'd have to set the game to A16.4 and install that first, as normal, through Steam, and only then drop the unzipped mod files on top, right?

 

This would also mean I'd lose the ability to play A18 though, right?

 

Yep - when you unzip the mod, it will show a folder.

 

Open that folder and take the items in there, and copy them into your 7days folder, and hit Yes to merge/overwrite all files

 

Then launch the game via the 7 Days EXE file.

 

I did it this way and didn’t use the mod launcher. When you select A16 in steam, it will download a 1.7gb file that lets you play 16. It will auto download the proper file when you switch it back to A18. I’m West Coast US and okay at night my time from about 9pm to 5am - maybe we can link up

[Ghostlight]

I'm in Scotland, don't think we'd overlap; you're 8 hours behind us. And I host a server for a couple of others, so I kind of need to stay on A18 (for now). All of us feel A16 is far better though, so you never know.