Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[Blake_]

Good day to you, @faatal . What are you working on at the moment ? Any news that you want to share with us from yours or any department? 

[MechanicalLens]

Did you get any sleep last night @faatal? Or any over the past week for that matter?

[ericode]

@faatal Will there be any adjustments to trader quests? They seem to be a bit unbalanced. Teir 1 quests I can do quickly and get a lot of ammo, but teir 5 quests I dont usually get ammo and the rewards seem the same or worse if anything.

[khzmusik]

@madmole A quick request. In one of the A20 dev streams, could a POI designer do a demo of how to put the "mini-prefabs" inside larger POIs? I'm sure a lot of POI designers are going to be very interested in that.

 

(I'm pretty sure I saw all the streams and didn't see that - if I'm wrong, sorry)

[samljer]

@faatal @madmole

 

Would it be possible to have the quests randomly selected based on POI and not distance?

 

Right now, it seems you always get the same few quests, same buildings. say (skyscraper_02 and skyscraper_01) for say "Jen"

go to a different trader, and you get a different set, but always the same for each trader. (Hospital and waterworks) for "hugh"

 

also, allowing hand-ins for non-retrieve quests to any trader would also be cool.

 

we play 8k maps almost exclusively and once you do a few you always get the same quests at the same spots for the same, same, same, etc.

 

 

I just think having the quests randomly chosen  based on what they are, and not where they are would open the map up a whole lot more.

For obvious reasons this could (probably should) be a feature limited to Tier4 and Tier5.

 

 

 

Other peoples thoughts as well pls?

2 minutes ago, WK85 said:

AMD FidelityFX would be awesome. 😀

 

I wish they would add this to Unity.

I use Unity too, would love this added.

[jorbascrumps]

1 hour ago, samljer said:

I just think having the quests randomly chosen  based on what they are, and not where they are would open the map up a whole lot more.

I can't speak for the devs but this may be to simulate a basic sphere of influence or territory for each trader? Or it could simply be the result of the first implementation of the quest system and will be improved in the future.

[meganoth]

2 hours ago, samljer said:

@faatal @madmole

 

Would it be possible to have the quests randomly selected based on POI and not distance?

 

Right now, it seems you always get the same few quests, same buildings. say (skyscraper_02 and skyscraper_01) for say "Jen"

go to a different trader, and you get a different set, but always the same for each trader. (Hospital and waterworks) for "hugh"

 

also, allowing hand-ins for non-retrieve quests to any trader would also be cool.

 

we play 8k maps almost exclusively and once you do a few you always get the same quests at the same spots for the same, same, same, etc.

 

 

I just think having the quests randomly chosen  based on what they are, and not where they are would open the map up a whole lot more.

For obvious reasons this could (probably should) be a feature limited to Tier4 and Tier5.

 

The biggest problem is that there are only about 5 or 6 tier5 buildings at all, repetition is unavoidable currently. But the quest system in A20 is getting an overhaul so that you can select quests from all tiers in end game.

 

And I hope the RWG overhaul will make denser cities possible again which could lead to all tier5 buildings available in a big city

 

 

Quote

 

 

 

Other peoples thoughts as well pls?

 

I wish they would add this to Unity.

I use Unity too, would love this added.

 

FidelityFX is coming to Unity, AMD announced them as one of their partners. But according to Faatal 7d2d uses an older mode of operation that won't get upgraded with FFX. So probably no luck for 7D2D

 

EDIT: Here's the link:

 

[MechanicalLens]

1 hour ago, meganoth said:

 

The biggest problem is that there are only about 5 or 6 tier5 buildings at all, repetition is unavoidable currently. But the quest system in A20 is getting an overhaul so that you can select quests from all tiers in end game.

 

And I hope the RWG overhaul will make denser cities possible again which could lead to all tier5 buildings available in a big city

 

 

 

FidelityFX is coming to Unity, AMD announced them as one of their partners. But according to Faatal 7d2d uses an older mode of operation that won't get upgraded with FFX. So probably no luck for 7D2D

 

EDIT: Here's the link:

 

 

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure TFP stated a couple times that they went to distance the more expensive POI's the help improve performance. If this turns out to be the case, then expect one skyscraper per city, if one spawns at all.

*want, not went

[dcsobral]

37 minutes ago, MechanicalLens said:

 

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure TFP stated a couple times that they went to distance the more expensive POI's the help improve performance. If this turns out to be the case, then expect one skyscraper per city, if one spawns at all.

*want, not went

They did reduce the chance of skyscrapers at one point, but reverted that somewhere along alpha 19 -- not sure when. You still see them rarely because they only spawn on the downtown of cities and their size makes it hard for them to fit there. Ironically.

 

[MechanicalLens]

With the city size selector being added into the RWG configurable options in A19, hopefully if the player sets town size (or city count) to the max they would be able to have one of each type of skyscraper on that given world.

[samljer]

As it stands now I never see the hospital, with the exception of my last map.

All i ever get is the shamway and shotgun factories for tier 5 in 90% of cases.

 

Really looking forward to A20.

 

[dcsobral]

1 hour ago, MechanicalLens said:

With the city size selector being added into the RWG configurable options in A19, hopefully if the player sets town size (or city count) to the max they would be able to have one of each type of skyscraper on that given world.

I think this is the second time I hear about city size or count being a setting on world generation but I haven't seen the source for it. Where does that info comes from?

[bachgaman]

5 hours ago, samljer said:

@faatal @madmole

 

Would it be possible to have the quests randomly selected based on POI and not distance?

 

Right now, it seems you always get the same few quests, same buildings. say (skyscraper_02 and skyscraper_01) for say "Jen"

go to a different trader, and you get a different set, but always the same for each trader. (Hospital and waterworks) for "hugh"

 

also, allowing hand-ins for non-retrieve quests to any trader would also be cool.

 

we play 8k maps almost exclusively and once you do a few you always get the same quests at the same spots for the same, same, same, etc.

 

 

I just think having the quests randomly chosen  based on what they are, and not where they are would open the map up a whole lot more.

For obvious reasons this could (probably should) be a feature limited to Tier4 and Tier5.

 

 

 

Other peoples thoughts as well pls?

I agree that completing high-level quests is very dull because of if you have a base, then regardless of the size of the map, you are forced to do the same quests over and over again. As a rule, of these several, 1-2 are chosen that are most convenient for grinding, and in the end you repeat the same POI until you get bored.
As a result, the game gets boring very quickly. Here is my solution to this problem, but they are not very interested in it, they are interested in making a flying robot, lol. As if it would be much more fun to grind the same factory with him.

[samljer]

2 hours ago, bachgaman said:

I agree that completing high-level quests is very dull because of if you have a base, then regardless of the size of the map, you are forced to do the same quests over and over again. As a rule, of these several, 1-2 are chosen that are most convenient for grinding, and in the end you repeat the same POI until you get bored.
As a result, the game gets boring very quickly. Here is my solution to this problem, but they are not very interested in it, they are interested in making a flying robot, lol. As if it would be much more fun to grind the same factory with him.

Those ideas would also work.

 

And I agree with the robot. what use is a flying storage bin if you dont want to go fill it.

 

Just have to see how the new quest types and rework affect the game, because as it is now all i ever get anywhere 90% of the time

is factory_lg_01 and factory_lg_02

 

 

[Laz Man]

3 hours ago, bachgaman said:

I agree that completing high-level quests is very dull because of if you have a base, then regardless of the size of the map, you are forced to do the same quests over and over again. As a rule, of these several, 1-2 are chosen that are most convenient for grinding, and in the end you repeat the same POI until you get bored.
As a result, the game gets boring very quickly. Here is my solution to this problem, but they are not very interested in it, they are interested in making a flying robot, lol. As if it would be much more fun to grind the same factory with him.

The people who work on the drone are not level designers so there is no either or when it comes to the drone vs more POIs.

 

Hopefully all of the new POIs in A20 will keep people entertained for a good while as well as all of the other planned features on top of that....😃

[bachgaman]

1 minute ago, Laz Man said:

The people who work on the drone are not level designers so there is no either or when it comes to the drone vs more POIs.

 

Hopefully all of the new POIs in A20 will keep people entertained for a good while as well as all of the other planned features on top of that....😃

Please show me where I wrote about level design? I didn't ask for more points of interest

[faatal]

On 6/18/2021 at 9:07 PM, Khalagar said:

Speaking of vehicle changes, are there any changes to the Bicycle planned? It's pretty counter intuitive ATM and it seems like most people don't actually know how to ride it properly. Instead of holding W and letting off Shift to regain stamina between speed bursts while pedaling, you hold Shift and just pulse press W every 2-4 seconds depending on your stamina regen.

 

If you hold Shift and let off W you maintain your speed FAR longer than if you hold W and let off shift, it's just kind of a wonky experience all around, and with so much focus being shifted to the primitive stage, the bicycle getting a bit of QoL love might be warranted imo

 

Edit: Actually just tested and even the 4x4 behaves the same way. If you hold Shift and let off W you will go WAY further than if you hold W and let off Shift. Letting off shift basically instantly brakes the car and slows you down, holding shift and letting off W lets you coast for a bit

No changes planned, but what you describe may get adjusted someday.

On 6/21/2021 at 7:33 AM, Survager said:

 

@faatal if zombie clothes can be implemented as separate objects, is there a possibility that such accessories can be knocked down with zombies with club blows or shots? For example, knock a helmet off a zombie military...

Yes, if they were like that, but all those objects add draw calls, so meshes are generally one piece. We may have a few extra parts at some point. Like bandits may have some of the armor as separate objects.

On 6/21/2021 at 11:58 AM, 4sheetzngeegles said:

Faatal

 

This is something I thought of a while passed. Since each
entity has a set of sound files, and 7DTD has dynamic music,
would it be possible to break up an entire battle song into
subchannel overlays. To create variable fight music.

 

My explanation: An old program Mixmeister Studio uses loops with
the same BPM that allows for drag and drop sequence creation.
The second old app is Sony Sound Forge. This app allows an MP3 to
be broken into approx 32 tracks. Fruity loops allowed volume controller.
An example is the Taiko music from Deep Rising.

 

Toying around with the two of them and then using FL volume to time
per track controller, I was able to phase in loops at specific times.

RE: 7DTD DMS, could a single or variety of songs be broken up in the same
fashion and each track be associated with the entities, volume per track
to be controlled by say proximity, or awareness level, with a constant
rhythm or score playing in the background as a base.

Depending on the entities and situation involved the music would dynamically
change. But is still a single song.

 

Examples: minding my business on a roof, and a predator comes close, i am not
looking for it, because i'm crafting, then i hear the low predatory loop added
in to the base music. Walking across the roof if i get closer the volume raises.

 

Entering a sleeper den, all associated track are on minimum, with base music at
standard level, one of them begins to stir, and its track begins to raise.

 

It's an idea I got from horror movies, example Friday the 13th, you don't see
Jason but the music tells you he is around. Or Jaws, same premise.

It would be possible, but I think we have spent enough time on dynamic music as it is.

On 6/21/2021 at 3:17 PM, KhaineGB said:

@faatal With all the programming work and taking the time to answer folks on here...

Do you ever have a day off??? Good lord you're a busy dude.

Sure. A few days here and there.

 

I took two days off a few weeks ago for a 4 day weekend vacation in IA.

 

Yesterday I was off closing on my new house. Lots of moving stuff in my future.

On 6/22/2021 at 8:18 AM, Blake_ said:

Good day to you, @faatal . What are you working on at the moment ? Any news that you want to share with us from yours or any department? 

A lot of meetings today, but determined a reason some sleepers were not spawning for the designers and fixed, but need to finish testing tomorrow and maybe adjust some of the spawn delays.

[faatal]

On 6/22/2021 at 12:16 PM, MechanicalLens said:

Did you get any sleep last night @faatal? Or any over the past week for that matter?

I get 6-8 usually. Had food poisoning Sunday, so still a bit tired from that. I lost 5 pounds in 2 days, but was wanting to lose some more weight anyway.

 

Working from home is a nice bonus time wise. Years ago, I used to commute to Chicago and that was 10 hours a week of wasted time.

On 6/22/2021 at 3:29 PM, ericode said:

@faatal Will there be any adjustments to trader quests? They seem to be a bit unbalanced. Teir 1 quests I can do quickly and get a lot of ammo, but teir 5 quests I dont usually get ammo and the rewards seem the same or worse if anything.

Probably, but I don't deal with that.

[dcsobral]

15 minutes ago, faatal said:

Yesterday I was off closing on my new house. Lots of moving stuff in my future.

 

Nooooo! That's it, a20 won't be released before 2022.

[faatal]

8 hours ago, meganoth said:

 

The biggest problem is that there are only about 5 or 6 tier5 buildings at all, repetition is unavoidable currently. But the quest system in A20 is getting an overhaul so that you can select quests from all tiers in end game.

 

And I hope the RWG overhaul will make denser cities possible again which could lead to all tier5 buildings available in a big city

Saw some new town pictures Monday and was impressed with the look and density of the streets and buildings. My kids, who are adults, thought it was cool.

[KhaineGB]

11 hours ago, faatal said:

No changes planned, but what you describe may get adjusted someday.

Yes, if they were like that, but all those objects add draw calls, so meshes are generally one piece. We may have a few extra parts at some point. Like bandits may have some of the armor as separate objects.

It would be possible, but I think we have spent enough time on dynamic music as it is.

Sure. A few days here and there.

 

I took two days off a few weeks ago for a 4 day weekend vacation in IA.

 

Yesterday I was off closing on my new house. Lots of moving stuff in my future.

A lot of meetings today, but determined a reason some sleepers were not spawning for the designers and fixed, but need to finish testing tomorrow and maybe adjust some of the spawn delays.

Oh nice! Congrats on the new house!

[meganoth]

11 hours ago, faatal said:

Yesterday I was off closing on my new house. Lots of moving stuff in my future.

 

And are you ready to make just one path through that house? Where will the loot room be?

 

[dcsobral]

33 minutes ago, meganoth said:

 

And are you ready to make just one path through that house? Where will the loot room be?

 

It's going to be a base, not a POI. I think more to the point, will it be a main base, a horde base or a combo?

[Holmes108]

On 6/17/2021 at 2:49 PM, Proteus12 said:

Please improve controls on gamepad
dead zone to regulate in controls xbox 360 my Pc

Please

7 Days To Die is getting really good

 

 

Yes please!

 

I originally found and played this game to death on the Xbox. I've only recently started playing on the PC, and am having a blast. But I was kinda shocked that the controller support is so much worse than it was on that old, abandoned version. 

 

I realize it was a different team, but it was still surprising, as the work has already (in a sense) been done! I find controlling my character is just fine with the controller, but the other stuff, navigating menus, the map, etc could come a long way still. 

 

I'm also still hoping we bring this game back to the Consoles in it's new form though too. Big fan. 

[MechanicalLens]

This looks awesome.