Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[quyxkh]

50 minutes ago, madmole said:

Come on its not that bad. Do you just sit back and let them beat on your concrete? I agree very late game it starts to become a chore getting enough ammo, but I've usually got my base fully repaired by 8 am if not sooner. Grenades are your friend. Let 10-15 pile up in one spot, drop it, duck around the corner because radius damage is insane, and boom, 10k-15k xp. Repeat. I use my guns for vultures and when there are a few smaller clusters, but I have one vault door they all floor to because that is the only way to get to me and thy pretty much cluster there and eat grenade sandwiches all night.

It's like nobody's ever heard of crowd control.  Pipe bombs are a one-PP spend and take no brass, no springs, basically just gunpowder. If you can four-hit when mining it's less than two swings per bomb and they make such nice gifts. This is without any motherlode perks at all, so 50/node, four hits is >12 each and you need nitrate and coal so two hits gets you pipe bomb mats with a little left over for the pipe iron. I like molotovs better, the no-repairs-while-burning takes management but the zeds make nice torch substitutes when the cops have blown out all the lights. I'm'a do a perc build next to get more out of those sweet stuns.

[Tin]

22 minutes ago, Roland said:

 

I get that. But like I said, I don't care if someone exploits a glitch whether they know it is a glitch or they think its the way the game is supposed to work. It's their choice and if you think about it, if they ever want to experience that sort of gameplay they really need to take advantage of it while they can. Once the bug is fixed and the exploit doesn't work any longer they will either need to adapt or stop playing.

 

Those not in the know are going to perceive that the devs are in an arms race vs players and think that they are intentionally trying to stop them from playing a particular way. That's fine. It's their perception. My only point is that even after the devs have polished up the AI to their satisfaction there will still be ways to exploit it and people will have to choose to ignore those strategies if they believe it will make the game too easy or unfun or use them if they like them. But the devs will not be forever looking for player strategies and countering them.

Spoiler

 

Someone mentioned kill corridors being an exploit. I don't see the devs ever working to stop players from using kill corridors. A kill corridor is a legit strategy and if you find a corridor that works well you can choose to use that every single time until you get bored and want to try a new strategy. Just because you discover or even copy a strategy that works well doesn't make it a "cheese method". And it certainly doesn't qualify it for instant nerfing by the developers.

 

So why start allowing zombies to dig? Why let them swim? Why let vultures start attacking canopies? Why change the whole driving around at night dynamic?  and not just let players choose to sit underground, tread water, feel safe under canopies, and drive around all night without risk?  Again, it was never about preventing players from doing whatever they want. It was about implementing behaviors they want the enemies to have. Once they have the zombie enemies properly behaving in all the ways they want them to behave then whatever the player can do to survive those behaviors is fine-- subject, of course, to fixing any bugs.

 

 

 Heh, I'm just furthering the discussion, as it has been discussed over the years. But since those discussions have been wiped, might as well get it out of the way

and better you type the book, then me 😛

 

[Laz Man]

2 hours ago, Roland said:

I want to say 30 blocks but I’m poolside on my phone so I can’t check. 

In game or IRL? 😅

[SnowDog1942]

1 hour ago, madmole said:

Guarantee you will use candy.

Only if you add Torrone.

[Laz Man]

15 minutes ago, MechanicalLens said:

Speaking of base defense... Guess who just defeated the day 7 horde with basically nothing but a nailgun?

Chuck Norris? 🤣

[Aldranon]

1 hour ago, madmole said:

Come on its not that bad. Do you just sit back and let them beat on your concrete? I agree very late game it starts to become a chore getting enough ammo, but I've usually got my base fully repaired by 8 am if not sooner. Grenades are your friend. Let 10-15 pile up in one spot, drop it, duck around the corner because radius damage is insane, and boom, 10k-15k xp. Repeat. I use my guns for vultures and when there are a few smaller clusters, but I have one vault door they all floor to because that is the only way to get to me and thy pretty much cluster there and eat grenade sandwiches all night.

Very true.

I like making a brute strength fortress sometimes without firing a shot or tossing any grenade or Molotov.  Just to stress test my design and to store up ammo for even more POV excursions.  POV's = Loot + excitement. 

 

However, once it takes more than a day to repair, I change a game setting or go to a cheese fort, because BM hoards are to be avoided and not engaged, for reasons.  

 

[Laz Man]

Speaking of chuck Norris, is there a chuck norris build? Agility+Fists?  Might be fun to try one in A19.  Maybe make tall perches for you to jump on and rest/heal between bouts?  

 

...however chuck norris doesnt need any rest between zeds.....The zeds need rest from church norris...😂

[MechanicalLens]

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[Aldranon]

11 minutes ago, Laz Man said:

Speaking of chuck Norris, is there a chuck norris build? Agility+Fists?  Might be fun to try one in A19.  Maybe make tall perches for you to jump on and rest/heal between bouts?  

 

...however chuck norris doesnt need any rest between zeds.....The zeds need rest from church norris...😂

Kage848 did a fist play through and did pretty good from the youtube vids that I saw of it.

 

Edit:  I like the perch idea of yours, maybe make a series of them (10-20 even) for a BM horde night? 

[Laz Man]

21 minutes ago, Aldranon said:

Kage848 did a fist play through and did pretty good from the youtube vids that I saw of it.

 

Edit:  I like the perch idea of yours, maybe make a series of them (10-20 even) for a BM horde night? 

Probably only need 5 tops if you make them sturdy.  Just enough for you to use meds, buffs, etc.

[Gazz]

4 hours ago, MechanicalLens said:

One thing I'm curious about is... How often do new people to the game visit these forums? *Shrugs* (That question almost sounds like I'm breaking the fourth wall... for whatever reason...)

Less than 5% of players ever visit the forum.

[MechanicalLens]

deleted

[MechanicalLens]

deleted

 

[Sir Negan]

Hey guys, i've been reading alot in de previous pages, and i'm wondering @madmole are you guys planning on implementing car respawns on multiplayer servers so we don't have to use mods? also, speaking of vehicles, when i close a door, the motorcycle / minibike / bike fall over :') is that something that is being worked on as well? i know it is a super minor thing, but it caught my attention the other day.

 

Keep up the good work tho, i've only been playing the game for about 6 weeks now, but it's great!

With kind regards,

 

Sir negan

2 hours ago, Aldranon said:

Kage848 did a fist play through and did pretty good from the youtube vids that I saw of it.

 

Edit:  I like the perch idea of yours, maybe make a series of them (10-20 even) for a BM horde night? 

Beer is the only thing that makes melee with knuckles viable, and that is only if your PC can handle melee during hordenight 😛

[EffiJeffy]

2 minutes ago, Sir Negan said:

Hey guys, i've been reading alot in de previous pages, and i'm wondering @madmole are you guys planning on implementing car respawns on multiplayer servers so we don't have to use mods? also, speaking of vehicles, when i close a door, the motorcycle / minibike / bike fall over :') is that something that is being worked on as well? i know it is a super minor thing, but it caught my attention the other day.

 

Keep up the good work tho, i've only been playing the game for about 6 weeks now, but it's great!

With kind regards,

 

Sir negan

If you activate a quest POI that has a car in it,the car will respawn.There are plenty of cars in the Tier V apartment building.Or the factory.

[DaVegaNL]

4 hours ago, madmole said:

Guarantee you will use candy.

SnowDog gave me some candy once.. Was a bit weird though, the whole 'in-the-back-of-the-van' and stuff..

[Guppycur]

2 hours ago, Gazz said:

Less than 5% of players ever visit the forum.

Is this a madmole stat or a real one?

 

(Surprised it's that high) 

[beerfly]

2 hours ago, MechanicalLens said:

You know, I now have some gears turning in my brain... If anyone is daring enough, here's a challenge for ya: Nailgun Only Challenge. You spawn in a nailgun and, say, 500 nails, and you're allowed to use nothing else against enemies. No guns, no melee weapons, no bows, no crossbows, no throwables. Just you and your trusty nailgun.  Heck, I might do this challenge run next.

 

What difficulty ?

[MechanicalLens]

deleted

[Gazz]

20 minutes ago, Guppycur said:

Is this a madmole stat or a real one?

(Surprised it's that high) 

Somewhat realistic but impossible to get a definite count. A good while back I compared forum accounts/visits and game sales.

 

So while the forumites sometimes think they represent anything, the truth is that the entire forum together is a tiny minority. It definitely is something we keep in mind when evaluating feedback. 😃

4 hours ago, Crater Creator said:

That reminds me... I think there should be a progression on container sizes.  The small storage chest, which is categorized as 'basic' and only requires wood, holds 72 items.  The storage box (crate), which is physically larger and requires both wood and nails to craft, also holds 72 items.  The bigger, more expensive container should hold more.  Or conversely, the small, cheap storage chest shouldn't hold so much.

I would love to do that and have brought it up multiple times because I also think that it's an important part of progression.

 

Never got any support, though...

[beerfly]

30 minutes ago, Gazz said:

Never got any support, though...

Would be awesome to have it, no doubt...don`t mind them, do it behind their back 😛

[AaronG85]

 

1 hour ago, Gazz said:

Never got any support, though...

 

Start a new thread with a poll and I think most people would vote in favor of it.

[Walker10474]

Finding glitches or figuring out how the AI works means fun to me, and the frequent updates with bugfixes and finetuning keeps the game interesting, because some techniques to survive won't work anymore and you have to find new.

 

I don't want to imagine how it would become once the development is finished -- will it become static and boring? I hope not.

[Syrex]

1 hour ago, Gazz said:

Somewhat realistic but impossible to get a definite count. A good while back I compared forum accounts/visits and game sales.

 

So while the forumites sometimes think they represent anything, the truth is that the entire forum together is a tiny minority. It definitely is something we keep in mind when evaluating feedback. 😃

(answering sincerely not sarcastic) That is a huge variable indeed all things considered. The people that post vs not post, the people that care vs not caring, and everyone inbetween.

 

1 hour ago, Gazz said:

I would love to do that and have brought it up multiple times because I also think that it's an important part of progression.

 

Never got any support, though...

While it would be a drag starting out having increased (depending on amount of reduced slot size) amount of initial boxes all over. It would further implement even more inventory management plus fit progressively better. Kinda like how the vehicle storage increases as you go up in vehicles.. imho

 

28 minutes ago, Walker10474 said:

I don't want to imagine how it would become once the development is finished -- will it become static and boring? I hope not.

Even if the dev team left it as is when it goes content finish/full version (though the devs have on multiple occasions submitted they wouldn't abandon their baby), I believe we'd see more modders come into the fold (not having to rework their work 19+ alpha changes type thing) to change things up to "help" keep it interesting well past full release and/or vanilla.

[Khalagar]

  

8 hours ago, Roland said:

the breadcrumb system is best noticed at night or when you are inside a POI and zombies are outside. It is what draws those zombies towards you as you make noise. 
 

During the day, when outside, zombies usually just see you before the breadcrumb system kicks in to draw them closer to your positio

 

Isn't that just the heat map system? I thought breadcrumb was where zombies would follow the path you took so they would know where your doors were and where to jump or avoid traps etc

 

7 hours ago, madmole said:

Come on its not that bad. Do you just sit back and let them beat on your concrete? I agree very late game it starts to become a chore getting enough ammo, but I've usually got my base fully repaired by 8 am if not sooner. Grenades are your friend

 

Yeah, Grenades are near mandatory even for my "on the road" fight. I've made a few decent "kill chimney" that rely on explosives with low block damage, but maybe it's just on the higher difficulties, it seems like when I've tried grenades with a "Castle gates" style build it starts getting hectic way too fast, especially with Demos. But I guess those are late enough where you just expect noobs to account for them with their base design or die

 

2 hours ago, Gazz said:

So while the forumites sometimes think they represent anything, the truth is that the entire forum together is a tiny minority. It definitely is something we keep in mind when evaluating feedback. 😃

 

 

Do you guys ever monitor the Subreddit? As with basically all games, the subreddit is like 10 times bigger than the actual forums or the steam forums and seems to be the main place people discuss the game. Like me for instance, I've played for like 3 or 4 years but never even really thought about posting on the official forums until the A19 signup stuff was here. The subreddit is quite active, especially after big updates