Alpha 19 Dev Diary

[FileMachete 165]

20 minutes ago, Gazz said:

That's why the loot perk was changed. This would only be a second loot bonus candy that you use after a POI is cleared.

hmm. hadn't considered that.

 

But wasn't thinking of it as a 5-10 minute duration (my bad for not clarifying that). It would raise gamestage permanently by 10.

 

Min/maxers could abuse it like you said a couple times, but they'd also have to deal with the increased difficulty, for the rest of their game, while not being at 'par' toon progression wise (multiple lvls behind zed difficulty compared to player lvl).

[USSF06 4]

I’ve had the most fun on this Alpha since A16. Finally got a rough version of the Spencer Mansion done on Survival, Day 135ish, Permadeath. This is my 3rd map, about 300 90 minute days in A19 so far.  I really don’t have any complaints aside from wanting more paint textures and decor. 
 

I am also someone who prefers to loot versus craft.  Even in A19, I find quality tools and weapons long before I care to craft them.  Tool, weapon, and armor parts are just extra dukes to me. 

[wolfbain5 188]

is something going on with blade traps? I have noticed that they are being damaged alot faster in the last 2 builds. on a typical horde night I only have to repair them 2-3 times, this last horde night was 8 times

[Jay_ombie 45]

9 minutes ago, wolfbain5 said:

is something going on with blade traps? I have noticed that they are being damaged alot faster in the last 2 builds. on a typical horde night I only have to repair them 2-3 times, this last horde night was 8 times

They probably nerfed them as sitting back and watching something kill all the zombies without effort is to cheesey. 

[FileMachete 165]

21 minutes ago, wolfbain5 said:

is something going on with blade traps? I have noticed that they are being damaged alot faster in the last 2 builds. on a typical horde night I only have to repair them 2-3 times, this last horde night was 8 times

Comparing blocks.xml, a17b240(1st stable) & a19b178 (can't find a18.4 files atm) there doesn't appear to be any changes in the Damage bits.

Still 20 dealt for 4 taken, and max of 2000, break percentages the same.

 

Might be that zeds are targeting the center of blade traps more than previously? I know from trying various designs in previous alphas that if you can keep the central hub of the blade traps out of the zs path they rarely hit it, and that made a noticible difference in the damage taken.

 

Oh, and if by chance you were using a half-block height design before and aren't now, then the central hub may be seen as an obstruction, so zs are trying to break it.

[DaVegaNL 163]

So.. Bandits being postponed another Alpha again? That's like.. I don't know.. The past 7 Alphas?

[SittingDuck 76]

6 minutes ago, DaVegaNL said:

So.. Bandits being postponed another Alpha again? That's like.. I don't know.. The past 7 Alphas?

can be but thats ok, because they worked on a lot of player animations, Traders and stuff that will also be on the Bandits. We are getting there, step by step...

[Matt 1977 56]

TFP are doing a fantastic job adding content with each Alpha..... and yet its not enough for some. Unbelievable. 

[wolfbain5 188]

1 hour ago, FileMachete said:

Comparing blocks.xml, a17b240(1st stable) & a19b178 (can't find a18.4 files atm) there doesn't appear to be any changes in the Damage bits.

Still 20 dealt for 4 taken, and max of 2000, break percentages the same.

 

Might be that zeds are targeting the center of blade traps more than previously? I know from trying various designs in previous alphas that if you can keep the central hub of the blade traps out of the zs path they rarely hit it, and that made a noticible difference in the damage taken.

 

Oh, and if by chance you were using a half-block height design before and aren't now, then the central hub may be seen as an obstruction, so zs are trying to break it.

I can also read the xml's, and I too noticed that part didnt change, but this part

 

    <property name="BreakingPercentage" value="0.5"/>
    <property name="BrokenPercentage" value="0.25"/>

 

doesnt seem to be calculating. it is taking damage all the time instead of the percant chance

[MechanicalLens 884]

9 minutes ago, Matt 1977 said:

TFP are doing a fantastic job adding content with each Alpha..... and yet its not enough for some. Unbelievable. 

Agreed. Sometimes I wonder if TFP should take notes from AAA and AA industries and NOT communicate with their community base. Just saying.

[beerfly 273]

12 minutes ago, Matt 1977 said:

TFP are doing a fantastic job adding content with each Alpha..... and yet its not enough for some. Unbelievable. 

Don't mistake a grumpy anticipation with something that is not enought.

Bandits are probably the most anticipated feature, of course we can make a small sound because another delay, Pimps are used with that ..us

[Annihilatorza 45]

On 8/9/2020 at 8:06 AM, Gazz said:

I'm not sure how I feel about a stone axe that talks smack and judges my performance.

Sounds like that screaming gun from borderlands 2

[MechanicalLens 884]

7 minutes ago, beerfly said:

Don't mistake a grumpy anticipation with something that is not enought.

Bandits are probably the most anticipated feature, of course we can make a small sound because another delay, Pimps are used with that ..us

True, sometimes I truly think that TFP want to grab us all by the neck and...

 

[Matt 1977 56]

Yes im in the same boat with all the people waiting for bandits , but take a second and reflect on the road the game has travelled.... my most played and favourite game period. A16 , did i ever imagine their would be junk turrets etc , nope. Hd upgrade etc etc ....

[Toban 120]

7 hours ago, EmpV said:

But is crafting an item really more convenient?  Maybe items that don’t now require parts, but since parts have been added back in, it is a lot of work to gather the materials to craft weapons/tools/armor. 

You can’t mine and sit in your base and craft these items. You have to be out there doing quests to earn dukes and looting parts just like everyone else. You are taking the same risks. You also can’t spam craft to get lucky specs due to the limited number of parts. 
So why couldn’t there be a small chance at least to craft a tier 6 just like there is a chance to loot a tier 6?

 

I do really enjoy looting and the new tiered loot, but I have also been trying to find usefulness in the current crafting system. The devs added parts back to the game, so I am making an effort to try to craft with them.
You are correct in saying that looting is more rewarding because the way things are balanced currently, the item parts I loot may as well be dukes.  Hopefully as things get tweaked the balance will get better. 

I'm not saying it's easy to craft, I'm merely saying the way I look at it is that way. When out gathering/looting, I always get a lot of lower lvl stuff I can use to make myself a temporary weapon/item. If I could craft a lvl 6 items without leaving my castle, I wouldn't go out and loot half as much as I do. It makes me have to play the entire game the way it is. 

[Kalen 483]

3 hours ago, Gazz said:

 

You can set that flag in a mod but then players wouldn't use mods in items until they had QL 6 ones or could craft infinite mods.

Player agency.   If people want to handicap themselves in that fashion that's their call, no?

[FileMachete 165]

1 hour ago, wolfbain5 said:

I can also read the xml's, and I too noticed that part didnt change, but this part

 

    <property name="BreakingPercentage" value="0.5"/>
    <property name="BrokenPercentage" value="0.25"/>

 

doesnt seem to be calculating. it is taking damage all the time instead of the percant chance

Sry for implying you couldn't/didn't check the xml Wolf, wasn't my intention. When you brought this up it reminded me I'd meant to look as I'd thought blade traps might get a nerf.

 

On the percentages bits I could easily be misinterpreting these, but I read them as, 'at x block health, switch to this state'. I could certainly be wrong though.

 

Wish I could add real data to this, but I haven't gotten far enough in an a19 game for blade traps yet. 🙂

[wolfbain5 188]

1 minute ago, FileMachete said:

Sry for implying you couldn't/didn't check the xml Wolf, wasn't my intention. When you brought this up it reminded me I'd meant to look as I'd thought blade traps might get a nerf.

 

On the percentages bits I could easily be misinterpreting these, but I read them as, 'at x block health, switch to this state'. I could certainly be wrong though.

 

Wish I could add real data to this, but I haven't gotten far enough in an a19 game for blade traps yet. 🙂

no prob, tired. i just noticed that 4 builds ago, they deprecated at about a 1/3 of the speed they are being damaged now.

[kuratowakiru 8]

@Gazz / @faatal  

I don't know if it just me, but it feel like the new bookshelf have extremely low chance of looting book/schematics. I have to hunt buildings with the old shelf to find books and schematic.

 

I just skimmed the last 100 page with dev reply to catch up so sorry if this had been addressed.

[MechanicalLens 884]

1 minute ago, kuratowakiru said:

@Gazz / @faatal  

I don't know if it just me, but it feel like the new bookshelf have extremely low chance of looting book/schematics. I have to hunt buildings with the old shelf to find books and schematic.

 

I just skimmed the last 100 page with dev reply to catch up so sorry if this had been addressed.

I personally don't see a problem with this. Imo a player shouldn't walk into a bookstore and walk out with three dozen read books and schematics. Maybe a half-dozen to a full dozen at the most on average, but it was way too OP before.

Besides, with the new large Crack-a-Book store, if all the bookshelves in there were the conventional ones, you'd walk out with a fifth of the schematics and books in the game.

*original, not conventional

[kuratowakiru 8]

10 minutes ago, MechanicalLens said:

I personally don't see a problem with this. Imo a player shouldn't walk into a bookstore and walk out with three dozen read books and schematics. Maybe a half-dozen to a full dozen at the most on average, but it was way too OP before.

I loot this book poi like 3-4 times, nothing but paper. 12 x3, 36 loot chances and nothing but paper. IMO, that a bit off. 1/5 chance or something I'm fine with.  

I have more luck going to the large church or visit houses with the old bookshelf in it vs a poi that primary purpose is to... have book.

edit: and im at GS 154 too.

Edited August 10, 2020 by kuratowakiru (see edit history)

[MechanicalLens 884]

14 minutes ago, kuratowakiru said:

I loot this book poi like 3-4 times, nothing but paper. 12 x3, 36 loot chances and nothing but paper. IMO, that a bit off. 1/5 chance or something I'm fine with.  

I have more luck going to the large church or visit houses with the old bookshelf in it vs a poi that primary purpose is to... have book.

edit: and im at GS 154 too.

The truth is is that like the rest of us, you've been spoiled for years on walking into a bookstore or a POI that has a generally large conglomeration of books and having a field day. The majority of the reading material would have been picked off by survivors, most of which probably died years before the factions formed and Noah and the Duke rose to power. There's bound to be very slim pickings, especially on firearm almanacs and the like. You can't win them all, and if you can't accept that, then just do a little bit of roleplay.

[WhiteLion 1]

@faatal

 

Will we see parallax occlusion for this game ?

[MechanicalLens 884]

I've noticed I have not been getting cloth when wrenching cars. Is this a bug with the loot table or an intended change?

[Toban 120]

4 hours ago, USSF06 said:

I’ve had the most fun on this Alpha since A16. Finally got a rough version of the Spencer Mansion done on Survival, Day 135ish, Permadeath. This is my 3rd map, about 300 90 minute days in A19 so far.  I really don’t have any complaints aside from wanting more paint textures and decor. 
 

I am also someone who prefers to loot versus craft.  Even in A19, I find quality tools and weapons long before I care to craft them.  Tool, weapon, and armor parts are just extra dukes to me. 

Looks cool.