Now that You have played Alpha 19, What do you like or dislike?

[Ramethzer0]

later impressions, now that I've had more than a couple of days of time in:

 

i really enjoyed the pacing of stone age.  arguably, the early parts of the game I find the most enjoyable.  One major thing I had to change about my play style during the stone age was to be wary of and not to loot places I knew I could get guns from.  Saving those loot hot spots for later was worthwhile as well.  What I learned from this change was that I didn't need to rush so hard.  Base building I was able to get by with cobble, without it falling over.  So, the stone age weapons actually felt balanced versus the sort of zeds I was facing.  I wasn't fond of mass battles because blunders don't exactly reload with god-tier efficiency, but I feel the space meant for the heavy challenge made sense.  I don't exactly need a bullet hose to face down 4-8 zeds either.  Also, in early stage - a massive horde base is not really needed.  Fighting on open ground proved to be pretty useful. 

 

I didn't get a real tech level 2 weapon until I looted my first toilet pistol in the Fire Hall in Navezgane.  I already had developed such a comfort with the blunderbuss that the pistol seemed to be sorta meh by comparison.  Interesting turn of events for that.  Stone sledgie is still king of early melee.    I, on a whim, unlocked knife crafting pretty early and was lucky enough to loot enough materials and find a proper workbench.  Knife combat is in a good place now.  I was able to develop a way to one-to-three hit early stage zeds.   But the bane of my existence (First night ferals) always seems to put melee back in its place.   I learned that it's just not smart to melee ferals.  It busted me up pretty badly and I experienced my first major critical wounds.

 

And here is what I learned about melee combat since.   Critical wounds are the game's way of telling you to slow TF down.   Don't go out with at LEAST cloth armour (because its actually worthwhile now) and don't go out thinking you're gunna power attack every hit and not suffer for it.  Take your time.  Kite the zeds if you have room.  Healing supplies tend to drop quite rarely if you're out in the countryside.  You have to go looting in the cities for that, and its still mostly just RNG.  If you get lucky and find a Pop'n'pills then there's still a chance you're not gunna walk away with the meds you may need.   Death by suicide still seems more effective when dealing with serious wounds in the early stages, and if you're just plain unlucky.  Still haven't been able to confirm using medical supplies on other people.  It's been tested with a few items.  I'm hoping to see this changed so we can heal other people.

 

Mid game starts to feel more familiar to me, but the next challenge is the decision to drop t6 primitive weapons and tools for tier 1-2 iron age ones.   I learned from testing that the transition means I needed to start spreading my points around.  I had to invest in stamina reductions in order to continue the new play style I'd been practicing since fresh spawning.   Next tier weapons couldn't hold as many mods, and thus seemed not as worthwhile.  My other AGI built team mate was using the t4 primitive bow for a while until I was able to procure a t4 wooden bow.   The challenge here was about efficiency.   My group quests a lot at night, so runners were problematic.  Often we needed to circle beat them just so none of us would take on wounds that would slow us down.  Group combat starts to really invade the scene.  This is where we learn to play with the zeds because early on we realize that whichever had control of the zed, it would be looking right at them.  When the head turns, you know you've stolen the agg.   After the first few fights, we finally agreed that travelling with one other person was kinda necessary until we get better weapons.

 

For tools the transition was a little stranger.  All of us had to some degree a little bit of mining skill.  By the time we could craft t4/5 primitive weapons, we could craft the same as iron.  The jump between the two was quite noticeable.  It reinforced that stamina reduction made a huge difference in performance over time.   Food buffs helps out a lot in this fashion, and coffee is the new silver standard for drinks, as well as Mega Crushes going gold.  I used to not drink them so much but I find myself guzzling them every chance I get.   Steroids are now a very serious consideration as well, even post-nerf.   Drugs and food buffs become even more and more important as you go on.  What we learned is that we can neglect nothing that adds something to our effectiveness.

 

My group has looted a couple of low tier machine weapons, but the widening of our horizons has proven to be effective in terms of evolving how we work together.  I've never been a fan of the M-60, because i think it wastes at least 25% of your bullets as they tear up zeds that are in the process of falling over.  Those bullets add up stupid fast.  To balance this, I'm happy to say we learned early that bullets can be stored in bigger stacks again.   We finally got to pull out all these stacks of ammo we picked up from the traders.  Were in the late 20 to early 30 levels now.

 

The amount of brass we find makes it worth noting that bullets are no longer a problem once you get to the weapons where you're using lots of them.   I got lucky with RNG and looted the Desert Vulture schematic and I use WAY less ammo than I ever did.  I went from pistol strait to the vulture, so I haven't been able to test out the revolver at all.    It was a huge bump in my combat ability and I only ever need to keep one stack of 44 ammo on me instead of 2 or more.  Maybe I'll keep an extra stack in my vehicle for the time being.

 

Traders!  In navezgane, two of the traders have changed positions.  Joel is a stone's throw away from his original location, Jen is about 400m away from hers.  I got the trader quests and am up to Hugh now, and he and the others are in the same position as they were before.  On a hunch, I went to Rekt.  The Wastland biome is officially ten times more scary than I remember it to be.  Traveling was made easy once we got minibikes.  Minibikes make me feel like they are useful again, thought I still prefer the motorbike.  Last session I got really cozy with the gyrocopter as well in alpha 18.   I'm told from a friend that the new vehicles are a bit easier to control, and can be dyed again (but it only shows in inventory) so its just a little bit easier to identify yours when you travel in a pack.   Simply pick it up and see what colour it is in inventory, and you'll know who's vehicle belongs to whom.  In alpha 17 and 18, I mostly just glossed over minibikes.   I haven't driven the 4x4 yet, but im told by a reliable source that its changes are quite noticeable.  So, I'm looking forward to that.   I noticed one small issue with the trader quests, is that once you reach the next tier of quests you are often required to go locate the other traders.   When I got the one for Hugh, I went back to Jen.. and she was still offering tier 2 quests.  I was hoping for the next level.  I hope that means we are not biome locked for quests.  Progression is starting to feel a bit more linear now, and the pushing us into different biomes seems forced.  Although I like the desert biome, I equally dislike the snow biome.   It's jam packed with too much treacherous terrain that I'll never explore, and the toughness of lumberjack zeds basically has me running past them.  I don't have time for damage sponges unless I'm forced to.

 

Sleep volumes seem less dense, even with my group of 4.  I've gone into tier 2 quests designed for one person and then did them again as a group, and the amount of zeds seems about the same.   I think this should be bumped up a little bit.

 

Wandering zeds however, are in a sad state.  I built a base out of the ranger station/information center near Trader Jen, and kept the fences as they were.   I never once felt unsafe.  My tradeskill stations are also in the open air.  It's been a LONG time since I felt safe enough to do that.  I've also noted that with a campfire, workbench, three forges, and a chemi station that there is a surprising lack of screamers in response.   Random hordes that were once part and parcel of the daily life seem to have fallen off.

But my biggest gripe about zed density is when we started to raid Diersville.   It was a bloody ghost town.  There were a few running around here and there, but not nearly as many as I was hoping for.  A big rumble in a populated area seems like it should be proper.  It just wasn't.  The houses were larger and more densely packed, but in terms of overall difficulty I just wasn't seeing it.

 

New POI's.  Can I just give a big shout out to the reworked POI's?  The Fun Pimps did a brilliant job of creating a large amount of new content, that feel cluttered like a post apocalyptic world should feel like.  Mo' Power is now added to the list of 'must loot' sites not unlike Shamway and Shotgun Messiah.   But, it's not just about effectiveness, but sometimes I have to stop and look around and see what else they created.  The night time sky is unbelievable.  I could stare at it from the roof of my home base and just watch it all night.  It's peaceful and calm.  I dig it.     I also went into the desert city to check up out how it's being built.  A LOT of changes happened there, and while the town seems unfinished in some respects (a lot of still open area as a result) the central park area between Higashi and Dashong was a pleasant find.  Indeed, the world of Navezgane seemed more beautiful, but also far more lonely.  One would have expected to see this place full of people during the day.  But, it deepened my sense of sadness for the loss.  Still, big props to TFP for that.

 

So, after that I decided I wasn't exploring the world enough.   So background here:  I used to be a big fan of Perishton back when it was in the plains Biome in earlier alphas.

When in alpha 17 they buried it under snow and ditched the plains altogether, I was a little annoyed.   Perishton became my sort of go-to when i played solo on public servers, because it was one of the cities that people never stuck around in.  If I had invaders in my city, they'd loot (often finding nothing) and then leave quickly.  Not many folks would actually stick around to see if anyone lived here, and I usually did.  In a bawn area just south of town where no one would ever find me.  It was actually because of this place that I picked up on the stealth game.  Nowadays, Perishton completely unidentifiable compared to its earlier iterations.  So I went there and learned there were more improvements to it as well, which included a park of its own as well.   I went back once or twice and the town is growing on me again, but its sadly tainted by the fact I dislike the snow biome.

 

Gravestowne is even worse than it was before.  I hate this place.  I rarely ever go there, except if I'm on my way to other places.  But If you want to get to trader Rekt, you kinda have to go through it.  The holes in the street are ridiculous and its every bit of hellscape you expect such a place to be.

 

I was unable to, however, find the second wasteland city that used to be there in alpha 18.  It was a pretty barren place, and all it had was basically cross streets and nothing else.  The city lay unfinished.  I couldn't find it this time around, and I kinda wanna load it up in a solo game and fly there to see if I could find it via the air.  I suppose I'll wait till I get my gyro built and try again.

 

Dynamic music:  It has its problems, for sure.  But, there have been a few times where the music creeps me TF out.  lol  I give it a solid 100% better-than-before rating, though.  I can't wait to hear it when it's finished.  Music makes the game feel grittier and more lonely in some parts.

 

Dynamic lighting:  Clearly a good benefit, but the colour palette seems a bit cartoonier than before.  Not that this is a bad thing, but the moon should not light up the countryside as much as it does.  I feel the world would benefit more shadows if that was the case.   Make them seem inkier and slow to move at night.  I'm hoping that the night phase is going to be more immersive as much as they say it will be.   I like the Doom-style danger of playing at night.  So far, the day time cycle seems already pretty well done, and its gorgeous for sure.  Again, kudos for that.

 

Swimming zombies:  No sir, dun like it.  Next.

 

Increased animal spawns on servers:  Great!  Running out of meat resources on our shared server was a pretty harsh thing.  I was hoping that hunting was an actual thing this time around because of the streamlined perk sets, but it wasn't long when i realized that with the lack of food available I would be mostly picking cans out of house POI's and eating pretty meager.

 

Which brings me to my final and best compliment to the game.. and it is so because I am a professional chef in real life.  The cooking and nourishment system is so much more important now.  I love how it really brings everything together.   I would play more survival games if they had better thought out cooking systems (I'm looking at you Green Hell and Mist Survival)  but honestly most of them feel like starvation sims, and knowing what I know about foodborne illness really takes me out of my immersion.   However, my biases aside there is something to take note.  You could in theory just eat tin peas and go on about your dailies, but the points in cooking feel worthwhile.  What camp cooking lacks in this game, is improved by its relevance.  Maybe for now it's my lack of familiarity with the normal of the game that keeps me from swimming in rations that will never spoil, but at 60 to 90 minute day settings I do eat at regular intervals for once, and that bit IS familiar to me.

 

I'm only just now getting the new weapons sorted out.  I plan on reviewing them at a later date.  I'm in an AGI build right now, because it was my go-to all through A17 and A18.  I've not playtested much since downloading A19 because i wanted to get an organic feel for things in terms of natural progression.  So, that's gunna wait for a bit.  However, I did get my hands on the Vulture and I can summarize it with the famous saying from Zombieland, and it's the 'Double Tap'.    The Vulture takes out most the weaker zeds with two body shots.  Head shots are just murder.

 

When this game goes gold, I kinda wonder if there will be expansions or DLC's for it.

 

Anyway, I wanted again to reiterate that I really dig what the Fun Pimps are doing with this game.  I can't wait to see it trimmed down and into a stable shape and see how the feel of everything has turned out.  Big props as well for the streams that Prime and Rick have been doing to showcase the new changes.   I like it when Devs do more community communication stuff so I can catch a glimpse of things between my shifts at work when im too tired to play but too revved up to sleep.  As they say in Enter the Dragon and Kentucky Fried Movie:  "Gentleman, you have our (my) Gratitude!"

 

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Ramethzer0 (see edit history)

[MetalMartyr]

My Feedback:

- Give T1/T2 quest rewards a chance of spawning Forge and Workbench Schematics (maybe Chem station schems).

I'm not going to explain in-depth my reasoning, as it's largely RNG based on how @%$*#! your luck is finding these by looting/inventories/rewards. That being said, the explanation is that my luck is @%$*#!, and I don't like being forced into blowing points on Intellect.

 

- Sex Rex still sucks (imo), and shooting the Stamina system in the foot didn't help.

Just buff/change Sex Rex completely. I won't speak for combat, but it's always seemed more efficient to farm mats with left click spamming, as power attacks took too much stamina and had a long wind-up time for what little boosted damage it had. So how about giving Sex Rex Faster, Stronger, and less draining power attacks over plain stamina efficiency? Grant Power Attacks increased damage at max rank, and decrease wind up time by some amount.

 

- revert the stack nerfs to Meat, Boiling/Murky Water, etc. It's not a major change, but it's a noticeable inconvenience.

 

Thanks for listenin', and thanks for the game.

[Kazgrel]

Can't say I'm a huge fan of removing T2 weapons from perks with b163.  I would've rather seen them moved to rank 5/5 of their respective weapon perks to give additional value for going all the way to master a particular weapon (and as a wee bit of RNG protection).

 

In my current playthrough I ended up essentially skipping pump shotgun since I had the schematic for the auto shotgun.

 

It's no game breaking change by any stretch and I'll adapt to it, though.

[meganoth]

2 hours ago, MetalMartyr said:

My Feedback:

- Give T1/T2 quest rewards a chance of spawning Forge and Workbench Schematics (maybe Chem station schems).

I'm not going to explain in-depth my reasoning, as it's largely RNG based on how @%$*#! your luck is finding these by looting/inventories/rewards. That being said, the explanation is that my luck is @%$*#!, and I don't like being forced into blowing points on Intellect.

 

- Sex Rex still sucks (imo), and shooting the Stamina system in the foot didn't help.

Just buff/change Sex Rex completely. I won't speak for combat, but it's always seemed more efficient to farm mats with left click spamming, as power attacks took too much stamina and had a long wind-up time for what little boosted damage it had. So how about giving Sex Rex Faster, Stronger, and less draining power attacks over plain stamina efficiency? Grant Power Attacks increased damage at max rank, and decrease wind up time by some amount.

 

- revert the stack nerfs to Meat, Boiling/Murky Water, etc. It's not a major change, but it's a noticeable inconvenience.

 

Thanks for listenin', and thanks for the game.

 

About workstations: They definitely changed that in A19. That is not bad luck on your side, one really has to work to get the workstations. Always keep some money around to be able to buy a workstation from the trader or you need lots of patience until you find the recipes in the wild. IMHO a good change as it makes INT valuable.

 

1 hour ago, Kazgrel said:

Can't say I'm a huge fan of removing T2 weapons from perks with b163.  I would've rather seen them moved to rank 5/5 of their respective weapon perks to give additional value for going all the way to master a particular weapon (and as a wee bit of RNG protection).

 

In my current playthrough I ended up essentially skipping pump shotgun since I had the schematic for the auto shotgun.

 

It's no game breaking change by any stretch and I'll adapt to it, though.

I had the same in my MP game just today. Jumped directly from wraps and AK to steel knuckles and tactical rifle, both of them quest rewards. On day 12! But this will definitely change, the trader and the quest rewards are not yet balanced to the loot progression.

 

[SenpaiThatIngnoresYou]

The game is so much better now that it's shocking. All the perks are good, all the weapons are good, i am not having many issues with the game at all. the new pois are also good. The only real complaint i have, is getting spam quests with the same pois over and over again. it would be nice for a poi to have a quest cool down so that way i don't the same place multiple times a week. 

[psycros]

a19 thoughts:

 

GOOD

 

* More weapon variety.

* More types of POIs.

* Not needing to waste points on science just to make ammo.

 

MIXED

* Zombie falling animations are neat and add realism although it seems impossible to hit them while their in that state.  I've tried with multiple melee and ranged weapons.  Same goes now for when their getting up from being knocked down..only headshots seem to connect.

 

BAD

* The zombie teleport has got to go.  When they get up from being knocked down they routinely teleport a block or two either to one side or towards you.  Also, does it really make sense that stuns, especially with big guns, make a zombie rapidly stumble towards you?  If anything it should knock them back a step or slightly slow their progress.  We have "zombie rage rush" now, after all.

* 2014-era food and water consumption?  No thanks.  7 Minutes to Starve is not a fun game.  We need a happy medium.  I'd suggest making the food more realistic.  A can of pasta is a full meal for a healthy person.  It should take the character from 0% (not quite starving) to at least 40% fullness with no points in Iron Gut.  The rate of "calorie burn" should also be cut by about 25%.

*  Stamina was nerfed a bit too hard.  Same goes for Sexual T-Rex, making it undesirable compared to gains from food.  I would suggest making stamina just a little more forgiving as opposed to buffing Sexual T-Rex, which would make it virtually a mandatory perk.  Or perhaps a slight improvement to both..?

* New graphics are often bizarre.  Strange textures with lots of stripes, colors look like every Photoshopped landscape scene on the Internet - like the world is on ecstasy or something.

* Dogs were bulls**t before, now their ultra-bulls**t.  Their hard to hit and seem more resistant to melee damage than any of the normal-sized biped zombies (i.e. those smaller than bikers).

* Vultures busting into buildings destroys any suspension of disbelief..their not heavy enough to do that kind of damage.

* Did the apocalypse start about two years before the zombies showed up?  Because that's the only explanation I can imagine for all the stone weapons and tools.  How about this instead: scrap weapons and tools that you build from common materials ala Fallout and similar games.  This makes sense in a ruined technological world.  Stone age crap doesn't.  Its fine to leave it in there but it definately should not be the de facto starting point...its what you should be making only if you aren't able to scavenge from POIs.

* I'm L31 and have yet to find a pump shotgun or schematic for one.  Same goes for the four other people on our server.  We've all found auto-shotguns although I think none are higher than T2.

Edited July 16, 2020 by psycros (see edit history)

[MetalMartyr]

1 hour ago, meganoth said:

 

About workstations: They definitely changed that in A19. That is not bad luck on your side, one really has to work to get the workstations. Always keep some money around to be able to buy a workstation from the trader or you need lots of patience until you find the recipes in the wild. IMHO a good change as it makes INT valuable.

 

Making a skill tree's value increase is fairly different from nerfing everyone else's value.

If TFP want people to invest in Intellect, they need to buff it, instead of taking a baseball bat to everyone else's legs (in this case, the acquisition of vital crafting schematics)

 

Since a18 (I've been on'n'off for a while, so that's when I rejoined again), Intellect has always been a mid-to-late game skill tree. Why?

- Weapons cannot be accessed without a workbench (and then you need to find the baton/turret parts, as they can't just be built with mats, since they don't have a T1 version (ex: wood club, knuckle wraps, Stone Spear))

- Damn-near everything aside from the Forge/Workbench cannot be crafted without a Workbench (and in some cases, Chem station).

- Extra rewards and better bargains aren't much of an issue unless you're buying vehicles, elixirs, or expensive mats like steel. By the time you can buy these, you have a steady (albeit not the quickest) supply you're making on your own.

 

There's nothing aside from the Forge craft that says, "Hey y'all, invest in me for early game!"

Backhanding everybody else did nothing to make Intellect better as of now. It's still the same as it was a18, but now a necessary evil./imo

[meganoth]

1 hour ago, MetalMartyr said:

Making a skill tree's value increase is fairly different from nerfing everyone else's value.

If TFP want people to invest in Intellect, they need to buff it, instead of taking a baseball bat to everyone else's legs (in this case, the acquisition of vital crafting schematics)

 

Since a18 (I've been on'n'off for a while, so that's when I rejoined again), Intellect has always been a mid-to-late game skill tree. Why?

- Weapons cannot be accessed without a workbench (and then you need to find the baton/turret parts, as they can't just be built with mats, since they don't have a T1 version (ex: wood club, knuckle wraps, Stone Spear))

- Damn-near everything aside from the Forge/Workbench cannot be crafted without a Workbench (and in some cases, Chem station).

- Extra rewards and better bargains aren't much of an issue unless you're buying vehicles, elixirs, or expensive mats like steel. By the time you can buy these, you have a steady (albeit not the quickest) supply you're making on your own.

 

There's nothing aside from the Forge craft that says, "Hey y'all, invest in me for early game!"

Backhanding everybody else did nothing to make Intellect better as of now. It's still the same as it was a18, but now a necessary evil./imo

I didn't say you have to like INT, it is rational decision whether to live with the limitations until you find the workstations or pay the price in perk points.

 

Nobody from TFP cares which way you decide, all they probably care about is that you have to think about your decision. The harder this decision is for as many players as possible the better they have done their job.

 

 

[MetalMartyr]

14 minutes ago, meganoth said:

it is rational decision whether to live with the limitations until you find the workstations or pay the price in perk points.

all they probably care about is that you have to think about your decision. The harder this decision is for as many players as possible the better they have done their job.

 

 

I'd argue that after the initial experience of "Have forge/bench schems stopped existing!?", it's not a hard decision when you make a new game, or jump to a new server.

That bein' said, if we look at all skill trees the same way as we're arguing about Intellect ("pay the price in limitations or sp"), then Intellect is pretty much the only one that has real/unavoidable consequences for ignoring (early on, anyway).

Refusing all the other trees will make you inefficient in their tasks, but you can more-or-less bypass the punishment with patience, food, and a good head on your shoulders.

Refuse Intellect, and you might've just barred yourself from the rest of the game (unless you have amazing luck with Trader Stations working, or finding the prints).

 

Imo I'd find it much more tolerable if the Forge/Bench schematics were Tier-completion reward choices for T1 and T2. That way, it's on the player to choose to attempt to speed-clear their quests for technology (consequence being the higher tier zombies coming in to play), or take it slow and invest those points into Intellect. Or, y'know, roll a quadrillion-to-one odd of finding those prints in the wild/shops.

[katarynna]

Even if none of your traders having working stations, you don't skill int, and you don't find the schematics, you are by no means barred from the rest of the game unless you have amazingly bad luck.

 

With the exception of forges, all the other workstations appear pretty commonly in pois. The chances that no pois in your area have working stations as well would mean astronomically bad luck. So if you don't want to throw a few points into intellect to get the perks, then systematically search for working stations in pois and mark them on your map.

 

For the forge, it requires one point in the perk and zero in int to unlock.

 

You have many options. Use whichever works for you.

[meganoth]

8 hours ago, MetalMartyr said:

I'd argue that after the initial experience of "Have forge/bench schems stopped existing!?", it's not a hard decision when you make a new game, or jump to a new server.

That bein' said, if we look at all skill trees the same way as we're arguing about Intellect ("pay the price in limitations or sp"), then Intellect is pretty much the only one that has real/unavoidable consequences for ignoring (early on, anyway).

Refusing all the other trees will make you inefficient in their tasks, but you can more-or-less bypass the punishment with patience, food, and a good head on your shoulders.

Refuse Intellect, and you might've just barred yourself from the rest of the game (unless you have amazing luck with Trader Stations working, or finding the prints).

 

Imo I'd find it much more tolerable if the Forge/Bench schematics were Tier-completion reward choices for T1 and T2. That way, it's on the player to choose to attempt to speed-clear their quests for technology (consequence being the higher tier zombies coming in to play), or take it slow and invest those points into Intellect. Or, y'know, roll a quadrillion-to-one odd of finding those prints in the wild/shops.

Not a hard decision? In my current solo game I put 1 point in for the forge and stopped there. On day 10 I saw a workbench was offered at the trader but it vanished before I could get the necessary money, and I had to wait until day 18(?) before another was offered. The biggest problem was that I couldn't craft the wheels for the bicycle where I already had bought the other parts. Disadvantage yes, but not a catastrophe. If I had not found the workbench by day 21 or 27 who knows I might have bitten the bullet and got me the workbench through INT.

 

Oh, does that mean I twice had a quadrillion-to-one chance happening to me 😀

 

You are surely aware of the Forgettin Elixier, right? If the perk points in INT really weigh too much on your conscience that is always a possibility for later. Some people even go deep into INT and better barter just to get the Elixier after having built everything INT offers and then respec.

 

Since there never is a time where you are barred from investing in INT I don't see how this "barred yourself from the rest of game" is even remotely true.

 

The only change to the current balance I would make is to make it more likely to find a working forge or get the recipe for forge, so that the one perk point to get the forge isn't such a good deal compared to the alternative.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by meganoth (see edit history)

[JCrook1028]

13 hours ago, katarynna said:

Even if none of your traders having working stations, you don't skill int, and you don't find the schematics, you are by no means barred from the rest of the game unless you have amazingly bad luck.

 

With the exception of forges, all the other workstations appear pretty commonly in pois. The chances that no pois in your area have working stations as well would mean astronomically bad luck. So if you don't want to throw a few points into intellect to get the perks, then systematically search for working stations in pois and mark them on your map.

 

For the forge, it requires one point in the perk and zero in int to unlock.

 

You have many options. Use whichever works for you.

and you can also just guy the workstations from the traders...

[Zengrath]

Alpha 19 is my favorite so far but my biggest dislike which still exists is when doing level 5 clear quests, finding last few zombies take a significant amount of time of running through the massive POI many times before they spawn, usually in places you went past already multiple times. and keeps happening even with POI's I'm very familiar with and done many times over. I really wish that for level 5 missions all zombies automatically shows up on radar once you kill about 95% of the zombies, or the clear quest just completes when you kill 95% of the zombies. Having to kill all every single one of the 150 or whatever zombies in Tier 5 quests just ruins the fun of playing high tier quests. I tend to spend 2 to 3 times longer finding the last couple zombies then the initial clear, and i'm pretty thorough and follow the intended paths. 

[MetalMartyr]

13 hours ago, katarynna said:

Even if none of your traders having working stations, you don't skill int, and you don't find the schematics, you are by no means barred from the rest of the game unless you have amazingly bad luck.

 

With the exception of forges, all the other workstations appear pretty commonly in pois. The chances that no pois in your area have working stations as well would mean astronomically bad luck. So if you don't want to throw a few points into intellect to get the perks, then systematically search for working stations in pois and mark them on your map.

 

For the forge, it requires one point in the perk and zero in int to unlock.

 

You have many options. Use whichever works for you.

Aye, and I'm here to tell you that I am your 'astronomically bad luck' guy.

But for what it is worth, I immediately dump into Int since I knew from my first few attempts at a19 that I'd never get a forge/bench recipe before first horde night.

 

5 hours ago, meganoth said:

Not a hard decision? In my current solo game I put 1 point in for the forge and stopped there. On day 10 I saw a workbench was offered at the trader but it vanished before I could get the necessary money, and I had to wait until day 18(?) before another was offered.

Yes, not a hard decision. If you've got enough luck that it felt difficult, that's great. Pass some of that luck my way, please'n'thanks.

 

Quote

If I had not found the workbench by day 21 or 27 who knows I might have bitten the bullet and got me the workbench through INT.

Alright, that's good to know. I found my bench schem around the same time. I guess that's the new norm.

Quote

Since there never is a time where you are barred from investing in INT I don't see how this "barred yourself from the rest of game" is even remotely true.

I spoke in the sense of completely ignoring any of the skill trees (like, not investing in them for the entire game).

Int's consequences would be far more likely to hit the player harder and faster than the others, just off the forge/bench schem's (apparent) lower drop rates.

Quote

You are surely aware of the Forgettin Elixier, right? If the perk points in INT really weigh too much on your conscience that is always a possibility for later. Some people even go deep into INT and better barter just to get the Elixier after having built everything INT offers and then respec.

That's exactly what I've been doing in my latest run. Not happy about it, but hey, if it's the only choice working, then that's what I gotta do.

 

Quote

The only change to the current balance I would make is to make it more likely to find a working forge or get the recipe for forge, so that the one perk point to get the forge isn't such a good deal compared to the alternative.

Again, I'd vouch for the End-of-a-Tier quest reward for T1/T2 being a Forge Recipe among the usual randoms to choose from.

You still make your decision on gambling a forge/recipe popping up as loot or shop inventory, but here you do have a chance to grab it after spending some time in the game.

[Ralathar44]

On 7/2/2020 at 10:03 AM, Galifrey1965 said:

Gonna get a lot of hate for this one but...

 

Do we really need to see Jen's cleavage? The new model seems to follow the usual portrayal of women in video games but guys, it's 2020 and if I watch a video I really don't want the male tubers going on about her cleavage. I think the artist did a great job modelling her, but if she is a doctor, give her back her white coat or just go the full hog and give her tramp stamps and a belly button ring...

I'm not one to slut shame.  She's a saleswoman and a back alley apocalypse doctor.  I'm pretty sure she's hustling you for your dukes and using the tools at her disposal.  I'm pretty sure she doesn't exactly have a med school diploma. 

I dunno when the world decided that busty women were evil and needed to be shamed and hidden.  Busty women get slut shamed by other women, have difficulty finding clothes that fit them that other people won't try to slut shame them for no matter how demure it is, and generally get @%$*#! on just for being busty.  TBH I find the whole demonization of the female form to be quite sexist.  You can put farking Voldo in Soul Calibur and nobody blinks an eye but people get upset at Ivy. 

That's called benevolent sexism folks, because you're saying women can't do things that men can.  We have an assembly line of Nathan Drake clones and other chiseled good looking men in video games being shirtless or scantily clad all the time.  People absolutely thirsted over Henry Cavill in the Witcher show and Jason Memoa as Aquaman.  I think we can survive a little parity with women.  Cleavage is not evil any more than a mostly naked Henry Cavill is.  If a guy can be Conan level near naked in a video game or dress in bondage gear and and nobody cares at all then a woman should certainly be allowed to have a little cleavage without complaint.

[FA_Q2]

^sadly, there is no trader jen in my current a19 map so I have no idea what she looks like now lol!

[Ralathar44]

8 hours ago, FA_Q2 said:

^sadly, there is no trader jen in my current a19 map so I have no idea what she looks like now lol!

You'd think she's super sexed up from the complaint, but she's just busty.  She's wearing a normal crop top, something that gets worn by women all the time.  Nobody complaining would even blink if she was a B cup wearing that same shirt. 

Being married to a busty woman for a few years kinda opened my eyes to how much hypocrisy is out there regarding how female clothing is viewed and how disingenuous alot of the jealous women and white knights are.  If you're a busty woman you have like half of the clothing options socially acceptable compared to a smaller chested woman because of stupid stuff like the complaint the other poster made.  The idea of protecting women via the erasure of other women is just ridiculous honestly.
 

 

[martinistripes]

Like:

 

Graphics (Lighting is a big step up, although colours maybe over saturated)

Zombie animations (When falling, breaking through)

 

Dislike:

 

Eating so often and never being full

Having to frequently avoid bears and wolves from level 1 (B-163)

[FA_Q2]

On 7/13/2020 at 10:30 AM, Ralathar44 said:

You'd think she's super sexed up from the complaint, but she's just busty.  She's wearing a normal crop top, something that gets worn by women all the time.  Nobody complaining would even blink if she was a B cup wearing that same shirt. 

Being married to a busty woman for a few years kinda opened my eyes to how much hypocrisy is out there regarding how female clothing is viewed and how disingenuous alot of the jealous women and white knights are.  If you're a busty woman you have like half of the clothing options socially acceptable compared to a smaller chested woman because of stupid stuff like the complaint the other poster made.  The idea of protecting women via the erasure of other women is just ridiculous honestly.

 

LOL.  Ya, not bad at all.  My inner teenager was hoping for more 😛

 

Considering we already have a stripper zed that is shirtless this is rather benign.  I do wonder what the re-model of the stripper zed is going to look like though - they have not gotten to that one yet.

Edited July 14, 2020 by FA_Q2 (see edit history)

[Frankencow]

I'm a big fan of the new "stone age" phase. I know it is going to get some tweaks and additions yet, but I've always enjoyed early game the best and this allows more game play while still keeping with the primitive vibe for the first week.

 

I'm also the guy who spins a new map on death, so I guess I like the challenge.

[Lorca]

like

- The new lighting and that I can finally see at night.

- The new zombies

 

dislike

- EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING <BIG GASP> EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING EATING 

- Loot tied to game stage. It was bad enough with just level tied to game stage. I want a reason to explore. I want a reason to go to difficult POIs.  

[Selevan]

On 7/1/2020 at 9:12 PM, Shin said:

15K hours, 3 posts...... Anyways, I might be the one you refer to not liking it.  Might come as a surprise to you that release notes and A19 dev thread gives you more than a good idea of whats coming. On top of that I can add changes made to A17 and A18, all wich have made me dislike the game more and more. In any case I'm very surprised that someone with 15K hours in the game loves it so much today... If you love this looter/shooter RPG so much it has have to been a real chore to add up that many hours in earlier Alfas.

 

Personally I'd say this game sucks today. Looks very pretty for sure but thats all good I can say about it. I'm only here  cause I have a daft hope of this developmnet being a joke and I have the odd go at Darkness Falls and Ravenhearst (thanks  Khaine and Jax) even if changes to vanilla also makes these games to easy.. But I realise more and more every day that TFP has abandonded their original idea of a good game for something better. A cash cow.

 

Sad for sure This could have been great.

Agreed. Huge shame they decided to ruin the game near A14-16, waste time (single update every each 12-15 months.. Seriously, has to be the slowest game developing ever. Funny when you read the fanboys like ammann going "wow its the best early access game! took only several years to invent the wheel again!") and resources on rewriting everything that was cool in the game and make it dumber and way more shallow. Zombies always know where you are, spawning in front of your eyes when eg opening treasure, removing wellness, removing quality, gun parts, loot being always the same.. several materials to reinforce your walls? Sorry, not needed, youre going to have just 3 now XDXD.. God, never seen such a disaster of a game.

 

Too bad, i really loved the game, was annoyed for many months at the direction devs took and their lazyness.. But now i dont care anymore. Moved on and found better games.

Edited May 24, 2021 by Selevan (see edit history)

[Roland]

3 hours ago, Selevan said:

Too bad, i really loved the game, was annoyed for many months at the direction devs took and their lazyness.. But now i dont care anymore. Moved on and found better games.

 

Dang...if I spent time trying to find the forum or message board for every game I used to play but don't any longer, I'd have no time to play any of the new games I'd moved on to. You are a real trooper Selevan. I hope you will carve out some extra time for yourself to play all your new games and stop picking at the scabs the old ones left behind on you. Have fun and remember that no game is meant to be played forever. Its OKAY to let the ones go that no longer hold any fun for you regardless of the reason. The new ones you are loving today may not be your darlings any more in the future so spend as much time with them as you can while you can.

[starscream]

i'd like to see more story-mode advances in the game at this point. some SP improvements like better npc/dialogue, missions, unique POIs with unique items (places and items that generate only once on a map, and are guaranteed to generate).

 

i'd aslo like to see stone items removed from sealed containers. rather find nothing at all rather than stone items in those things. it doesn't make sense that working stiffs would seal up a stone axe and shovel in a shipping container. lol.

[Boidster]

4 minutes ago, starscream said:

it doesn't make sense that working stiffs would seal up a stone axe and shovel in a shipping container.

 

EXCUSE ME, but Working Stiffs sources only the finest flint or, for the discerning customer, obsidian, for its Back To Basics™ line of fine workmen's tools! Using techniques passed down through four generations, the edges are hand-knapped by highly trained children youthful apprentices who are defininitely not underfed nor paid slave wages as they toil 18 hours a day in indentured servitude.

 

♫♪ When the world falls apart

And you need the best rocks

Crack open a Working Stiffs boooooox! ♫♪