Alpha 19 Developer Stream Series #2

[Roland]

Hey Survivalists,

 

On Monday June 15th at 9pm CST we will continue our series of behind the scenes interviews with the team that creates all the magic. Lathan will host another round of interviews with members of the Character Artist team. Joey Struve, Brett Briley, Joel Byington, and Keanu Rendon will be on hand to answer questions and talk about what they have done to update the zombies in the game.

 

Rick even teased that they may show some concept art for zombies we haven't seen yet and maybe even some bandits.

 

If you have any questions or topics you'd like to hear regarding character art, please post them below.

 

 

 

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If you missed any of the past developer streams here they are:

 

Alpha 19 Developer Stream #1

 

[ThePewter]

I've always wanted know if there was a way to add some variation to the zombies' appearance, especially when they are in groups such as mini-hordes. Just something simple like different coloured clothing. Is that possible and have you discussed it?

 

 

 

[POCKET951]

I am curious if  the max speed of vehicles is something that will be looked at in Alpha 20?, at there current top speeds they still feel pretty slow overall given how large the maps can be.

also will there be more new vehicles? the current selection feels incredibly limited.

[FileMachete]

Not sure if this fits @Roland, it might as these folks may be doing the 'rigging' & that may tie in with damage calculations?

 

In A18 there are quite a few conditions where the zombies are impossible to hit. Midway during an animation getting up from ground, certain swing animations etc.

 

Are these being investigated or hopefully addressed in A19?

[Sawth77]

Not sure if it's been asked, but....When 7 Days is finally done (or at least in full release), have TFP decided on what to do next?  New game, or maybe a follow-up to 7 Days?

[BobbyLee298]

could we see zombies from dead survivors, they could have some loot/armor similar to what a player would have.

 

As of right now we are killing zombies that dont look like they prepared for the apocalypse when it happened, IMO they should have random armor and or weapons on them

 

 

[Laz Man]

1) What inspiration(s) has gone into the current HD zombie art design? (E.g. movies, books, tv shows, games, etc?)

 

2) Any player character models/concept art that you can share or talk about?

 

3) What about future of animal art design? Any future plans?

 

4) What is your favorite HD zombie and why?

[Jugginator]

I've heard talk about, instead of more glowing rad zombies, highly grotesque and/or mutated zombies may be a thing. Care to share insight on this, and would it be possible to have these as horde night zombies?

[Adam the Waster]

what inspire you to make the special zombies the way they are!

 

 

like looks. Ability, sound ETC  

[danielspoa]

Not properly a question but I hope you show them swimming during this stream!

[Blake_]

1. Are you planning on redoing every Zd in the game in HD or do you guys already consider some of the A18 ones like the cop or the screamer to be the final version?

 

2. Will you be redoing the Zombie dogs and bears too?

 

3. Any plans to improve the gliding sausages AKA "snakes" ?

 

4. Rumor has it you gave episode 1 of The Walking Dead a run for his money with the new Zombie Crawler.

Any chance you can show it to us?

 

 

[GhostChilli]

Has the painting of clothes and weapons using the dye system seen any love? Is the current system a place holder or a finished feature now?

[XCOUNTRY]

Are there plans to add facial expressions, or simple mouth movement and blinking to NPCs and player characters? Bonus if this can be applied to the zombies as well.

[mdf25]

Have you got a roadmap of which zeds are being worked on?

[tankovaya]

Why are there only white zeds?

[Tin]

Any thought of just randomly lightening or darkening the color scheme of existing infected?

Not "color tint" as in adding/subtracting reds/blue/green but a darkening overall.

Just something simple like random pick of: 0%, 5%, and 10%. 1 entity 3 different shades.

 

Pro:

Won't need new models.

Shouldn't need to increase the atlas array.

Will give the impression there are more, then what there actually is, even if two of the same entity model are stand next to each other (depending on the rando darkening pick goes). 

[ZomBella]

Are there any plans to overhaul the player appearance customisation and third person player animations? I've been a fan and player since A12 and it is by far the weakest aspect of the game. For eg: swimming is walking in water,climbing a ladder looks like the player is floating, the crouch animation still looks odd, enlarging the eyes make them look like they are turning inside out, the hair styles are still really bad looking, esp for female characters. While this may seem superficial, it is immersion breaking. 

[secateurs]

What is the endgame challenge? The game gets easier every day until you quit from boredom. Joel always seems more interested in confounding our acquisition of toys than giving us a real need for them.

 

Can we get plains and boreal forest biomes back? Woodland is basically the only habitable biome now, makes every map and playthrough seem even more the same.

 

Not a character art question.  —Roland

[GoldsharkROU]

Can we apply colors to our vehicles ?, or improve them with a breastplate or an extended tank?

 

Not a character art question.  —Roland

[Rusrec00]

have the doggos gotten a refresh?  or are they planned for one?

[meilodasreh]

I would love to have some kind of "special underground/cave" bound zombie, creeping on all fours, with pitch-black skin (maybe glowing eyes), scared by light, fleeing into the shadows when "hit" by flashlight beam, but attacking very fast from side/behind when I explore a dark cellar. Could be even ignited by flashlight beam when exposed long enough.

Maybe based on normal spider-Z, different skin/texture, different AI...and boom, super scary rabid gollum Z ready to make you poop your pants.

 

Maybe just give some impressions on how difficult / time consuming / hardware loading such modifications are in general.

Just to help me/players understand why we can't have the variety and number of Zs we would like.

[beHypE]

Are there plans to work on more diverse melee weapon animations ? Especially the clubs (even the baseball bat) feel like you hit with wet paper, and... yeah, it really feels like you keep hitting the same way over and over again.

[Teamhair]

We've seen Jen's new look. Are the guys planning on getting upgrades as well? When can the girls expect to get some eye-candy for us in the game? 😉

[Damocles]

Whats the plan for the "radiated" zombie versions? How will they look in the future. (separate new skin, or do you keep that glow effect?)

 

Are there plans to have separate tint/textures on a specific zombie models clothes, to have them vary visually. Or would that look akward?

[strask]

1 hour ago, Teamhair said:

We've seen Jen's new look. Are the guys planning on getting upgrades as well? When can the girls expect to get some eye-candy for us in the game? 😉

Could we get an updated Biker zed with maybe half the vest torn off? Hmm...? Always reminded me of Khal Drogo or whatever his name was from game of thrones, the rapist-turned-love-interest (what an icky plotline!) but wow, that chest. I'm not usually super attracted to men, but there is definite potential in our biker friend.

 

Edit: Well, I mean putting aside the zombification etc. Heh.