Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[dcsobral]

10 minutes ago, madmole said:

Just use some self restraint and don't do any repeat quests. Turn off loot respawn. It's not perfect but role playing through self restraint can solve problems. Its a multiplayer game we can't not reset POIs for new players to experience it.

It could be an option, though. Even on MP there's a place for a resource exhaustion gameplay, particularly on small groups. It's something I'd like to see as a finishing touch on gold.

[Morloc]

5 minutes ago, madmole said:

We are changing living off the land 2 to give you a 50% chance of another crop so its exactly between rank 1 and 3.

 

I think that'll be great. I love variable yields done this way.

 

 

-Arch Necromancer Morloc

[madmole]

On 12/12/2021 at 2:26 PM, MechanicalLens said:

This negative 7D2D review basically sums up the majority of negative reviews I'm seeing these days, excluding the other types of stupid ones like, "My Internet went down, downvoted."

 

(I post this in congratulations to TFP. This game was going places before, but now it's shot past the moon.  The positive reviews are coming in thick and fast. Take reviews like this one no notice.)

 

"I love this game and its concept - basically Minecraft with zombie survival - and periodically come back to it to see how it's going and what's changed. However, I cannot in all good faith give it a positive review for a very simple reason: it's still in Alpha.

This wouldn't be a problem normally; games get prereleased all the time to fund their development. But 7 Days to Die has been in development for so long it's starting to give Duke Nukem a run for its money.

I purchased this game in Alpha (pre-Alpha maybe, I honestly don't remember) back in 2014; I was single and living with my parents. I now have a wife and a small child, have a stable job and pay taxes. If a lonely, nerdy geek with a passion for Lego can do that in seven years, but a team of developers can't bring out a finished product, that's a very bad sign for said product.

I have my doubts that this game will ever be finished one day. I'd love to be proved wrong; as I said before I love the game as a whole. The fact, however, that I paid for an unfinished product with the unspoken accord that it would be finished within a "reasonable" timeframe, annoys me no end, and is synonymous of a mentality that stinks of a distinct lack of respect to the players of the game.

 

 

The people who write a negative review after 1000's of hours about the game being in alpha too long, are the same people who will criticize you for going gold with bugs or unpolished elements still in the game. Clearly the guy is angry the game is more addictive than ever but he's too busy wiping butts and changing diapers to get any quality time with his PC and favorite game.

[Matt115]

12 hours ago, faatal said:

Yes, it is years old, and just as low priority now as it was then.

i think it can  be done "special" - some company build this flat. they coudn't sell this so company just "barricade" windows and left until  they find what to do with this building but zombie outbreak begin and well.. it was forgotten. this happens sometimes in rly - imagine completed flat without anything because change of law

[madmole]

On 12/12/2021 at 5:11 PM, BluntTongs said:

 

This. Or hell, not even that it saves time necessarily, just that I didn't need to go back over and repeat the process after having used up some of the harvest to craft seeds - in A19 I immediately knew how much crop I had to work with and I didn't need to spend the effort to craft and replant like in A16-. I'd much rather have lower yields but an intact plant if the crops are just going right back into the ground anyway; it's the same result, functionally, but with less fiddling around with seed crafting and replanting crops.

 

I'm mostly okay with Living Off the Land being necessary to really do any farming, but even with t3 LOtL the effort involved in replanting isn't something I'm looking forward to repeating over and over, especially when introducing "downgrading" plant harvesting was one of the things I feel A17 did right. I'm sure there's a way to balance recurring-harvest plants that accounts for the lack of busywork involved as compared to A20's system.

I'll probably cope.

Any time you take the player out of the game they feel less attached. Replanting seeds is a good mechanic and makes players feel more invested in their crops.

[Golevan]

don't you notice anything strange?
 

Spoiler

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2021-12-14T17:26:59 16.540 INF Version: Alpha 20 (b218) Compatibility Version: Alpha 20, Build: Windows 64 Bit
2021-12-14T17:26:59 16.540 INF System information:
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[Matt115]

7 minutes ago, madmole said:

The people who write a negative review after 1000's of hours about the game being in alpha too long, are the same people who will criticize you for going gold with bugs or unpolished elements still in the game. Clearly the guy is angry the game is more addictive than ever but he's too busy wiping butts and changing diapers to get any quality time with his PC and favorite game.

Honestly-  i usually complaining a lot but - you guys can be proud of yourself  because you made rly good game so don't give up, you are doing good job ^^ well i hope we will hear about your new game soon 😀 (maybe news about yours new game as christmas gift? 🎅)

[madmole]

21 hours ago, overgoat said:

Screamers with feral sense turned on are way meaner.  They sometimes scream without 'seeing' you and often spawn additional screamers.  I had a 60-70 zombie screamer horde recently.  Felt like a mini blood moon.

Yeah I had a screamer show up and it rapidly turned into what felt like a full on horde night!

18 hours ago, Mechanimal said:

Not sure how well the stealth is working, but right now I am typing this as I wait out the night... underground... in a city... in the wasteland. I shall not as much as scratch my nose until I hear that morning jingle. I have not perked into stealth at all except for one level of Hidden Strike, but that's just a damage bonus, gives me no extra stealthiness.

This is only my second time in the wasteland this playthrough, the first was an amazingly fun super scary night of WHAT THE F EVEN IS THAAAAT... NOPE... I am shocked I survived(albeit barely). I had not even yet been to the desert, nor the snow, and THOUGHT I was just taking another "Restore Power" quest in the forest biome, but Jen sent me to the wasteland... restore power is a night thing... it was on a farm, a big open farm where every high level Z could see and join in. And they did, I ended up cornered in a little shack with hatches on the doors, my trusty turret, and a dream of seeing daylight once again.

Was one hell of an intro to how much biomes stage things up. Haven't been that challenged in a long time... except for right now as I listen to all the footsteps above me, just waiting for me to make the slightest sound before I go up and clear that Level 5 skyscraper... in the morning of course.

This really is a substantial alpha TFP, I only started in A16 but have over 3k hrs already. Heard many stories about how cities used to be scary AF, had to imagine that, but not anymore. Too many awesome things to congrats you on this time around, wish me luck(I'm in danger). 

This was a great read!

[dcsobral]

21 hours ago, overgoat said:

Screamers with feral sense turned on are way meaner.  They sometimes scream without 'seeing' you and often spawn additional screamers.  I had a 60-70 zombie screamer horde recently.  Felt like a mini blood moon.

Is it truly without seeing you? Remember that diagonals between blocks do provide line of sight (like with ramps connected only diagonally), and ground is essentially transparent.

[meilodasreh]

3 minutes ago, madmole said:

Yeah I had a screamer show up and it rapidly turned into what felt like a full on horde night!

Now we're really going the right direction!

We came from "too many Zeds on the screen is no good for your framerate".

Now we're at "screamers summon screamers summon screamers summon...".

I love it, and I don't blame you when my PC goes BOOM because it died on duty (me having fun) 😃

[spacepiggio]

Still scares the @%$# out of me, I think its even scarier now that a good Stanima balance is making it harder to run away earley game. It feels like a more realistic confrontation wise with the Z's. Ive mentioned many times that it was too easy to run away from the Zed's, much funner & scarier now.

[madmole]

17 hours ago, JaxTeller718 said:

All of this is true.

 

Before I say this I want to express how great this alpha feels so I am not trying to be troll-y with my comment. But sometimes it feels like this is being balanced by three different teams. You have some areas that are quite easy, then some that are perfectly balanced. Then there are the times when things seem to be veering to please hardcore players. It feels very janky and un-coordinated in some areas and does not feel cohesive.

 

For example, upgrading blocks is a more efficient use of time to level xp then actually killing anything, to the point where going out to loot feels like a waste of time. POIs themselves are difficult at times early on, which is wonderful but the payoff just isn't there. If you get infected (which is very often almost every time you get hit) there are almost no stumps in the world and most times they give nothing back. With how often infection occurs this is terribly unbalanced at times.

 

Making a base at first seems like a waste too. Zombies can see you quite clearly in a base on day 1-3 so taking a poi is the best bet. To the point you feel pigeon holed to do it every time. 

 

Perks are a whole other topic. I'm forced to sink points into what i feel is a useless endeavor to get stations. I don't care for or want perks for batons/electric/turrets but i must sink them there for access to vehicles and benches. Why? its an attempt at a janky class system. And lets not talk about why anyone would want to take clubs or blunt weapons when bleed on knives is always a better bet. Even pipe batons are better than a club.

Not sure where i was going with that but everything just feels uneven.

Whaaattt??? I totally disagree, but let me preface that everyone plays different, and has different skill levels and choices that influence how a particular build can play out.

I prefer to build my own base. The time wasted plugging holes and wasting mats on a temp base, is simply that time wasted.

Upgrading blocks requires gathering materials, which in itself sets you back in terms of what technology and books you can acquire looting. There is no way it can keep up with killing XP either.

 

Why are you forced to sink points into workstations? You don't need workstations right away. But from the sound of it you like staying home and upgrading blocks so maybe getting out there and bashing heads in isn't appealing to you. I find workstation schematics in loot and vehicle schematics are found or purchased. I never put a single point into INT and had all I wanted on my last play through.

 

Clubs are WAY better than knives. The range and damage are superior. At least early game. Eventually my knives got ok but I remember the club always feeling superior. But you need to get sex rex and the right mods to really make it shine. Sure with agility I had unlimited knife power attacks late game with sex rex as well, but with a club you don't need unlimited power attacks. Personally I feel fists are better than knives. But I don't like running around as my enemies bleed out, I like to pulverize them to bloody pulps with my fists or clubs.

It all depends on what you FEEL like you need. After all it is just a FEELING and not a factual statement. Workstations are a convenience but not really a necessity early game. Eventually you might feel the pressure of not having one, but I tend to raid about 5 tier 3's a day and get loads of loot and find a schematic for one fairly quickly. I did get hosed by the random gods on my chem station though and paid double for glue and GP until level 50 or so. But still I didn't NEED one, it was just a convenience to have one.

 

14 hours ago, DarlingCows said:

Ok I’ve done this before where I log out right before day time after a horde night after I’ve finished my horde night early. But then I logged back in and the horde started again but I’m not at my base and I die. Can this be changed? 

You log in at the exact place you logged out at.

[Jost Amman]

I play at 120 mins/day because I like to have time to explore, loot and do whatever I like feeling in a real apocalypse.

When you play like me, you can build your own base in time for the first blood moon. It's great.

 

If you spec on STR, you can dig/mine the necessary materials.

If you spec on INT, you can buy the necessary materials.

 

There's an option for each style of gameplay: that's why this game is great!

[Khalagar]

It's so nice seeing the big skyscrappers, nearly 800 hours before A20 and I'd seen a grand total of like 2 before lol

 

Now if only my junk turrets weren't unusable in them because they fall through the floor T_T

 

"Oh, you're surrounded by zombies and getting beaten to death? It'd be a shame if I . . . . ran away and saved myself" ~ Both of my junk turrets, multiple times, 2021

[meilodasreh]

5 minutes ago, madmole said:

You log in at the exact place you logged out at.

I guess he meant that he logged out when standing outside of his base, after looting the bags and checking for damages.

So he's not inside his base and when the horde is somehow reset after login, and then he's f***ed up.

 

I assume it's because in early game stages the spawn stops before 4AM after so and so many Zeds, but if you relog before 4AM again it's checked "bloodmoon night between 10PM and 4AM, so here we go again"?

[Jost Amman]

Lol, I think someone on Steam found out a very funny bug! 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/251570/discussions/0/3196990234732572647/?tscn=1639475301#c3196990234733127619

[madmole]

23 minutes ago, meilodasreh said:

Now we're really going the right direction!

We came from "too many Zeds on the screen is no good for your framerate".

Now we're at "screamers summon screamers summon screamers summon...".

I love it, and I don't blame you when my PC goes BOOM because it died on duty (me having fun) 😃

I love fun and lots of zombies just like anyone else, but also have the responsibility of keeping it sane and running decent

[dcsobral]

I made a base on the drive in. Why? Well, there's plenty of space of course but on top of that there's a big gamestage increase and that makes the horde night loot more rewarding. And though I didn't do that, I could also make the base cross the POI boundary so I could stay on the plain gamestage side but the zombie bags would fall on the POI gamestage side. I don't like the incentive the POI gamestage creates to use POIs as horde bases, and I wish something was done so wilderness horde bases would not "lag" behind POI horde bases.

[madmole]

4 minutes ago, meilodasreh said:

I guess he meant that he logged out when standing outside of his base, after looting the bags and checking for damages.

So he's not inside his base and when the horde is somehow reset after login, and then he's f***ed up.

 

I assume it's because in early game stages the spawn stops before 4AM after so and so many Zeds, but if you relog before 4AM again it's checked "bloodmoon night between 10PM and 4AM, so here we go again"?

They still stop if you are like me, a viking commando who kills 8k mobs by midnight

But it's on him if he can't get inside his base before the zeds get there, they come running from afar. He should log out in his base.

[Weazelsun]

11 minutes ago, madmole said:

Clubs are WAY better than knives. The range and damage are superior. At least early game. Eventually my knives got ok but I remember the club always feeling superior. But you need to get sex rex and the right mods to really make it shine. Sure with agility I had unlimited knife power attacks late game with sex rex as well, but with a club you don't need unlimited power attacks. Personally I feel fists are better than knives. But I don't like running around as my enemies bleed out, I like to pulverize them to bloody pulps with my fists or clubs.

 

My personal issue with clubs is that in terms of weapon "meta" they are the de facto top tier weapon. I also think it's because clubs have multiple mods that basically make it powerful. Such as the barbed wire mod (adds bleed chance), metal chain mod (knockdown effect). Not to mention that a player can do the combo of burning shaft mod (fire) + barbed wire mod or burning shaft + metal chain. Now I understand that obviously weapons should NOT be all on par with each other. I just want their niches to at least be buffed, I guess? Like knives maybe give them a higher base dismemberment chance. Spears be stackable I suppose. 

[Wilson Wilsonson]

Hi,
Created this profile to ask an important question.
Are you planning to adjust the iron sight aiming for weapons as in this update it seems a little bit off - more like the gun is slanted upwards, not looking through the sights. Also the front sight for most of the weapons looks too large.

P.S.
Despite the thing mentioned above A20 was worth the wait.

[Uncle Al]

1 hour ago, madmole said:

I scrap every weapon of the same class and buy tier 1 verisons from the trader and scrap them to get enough parts. It's worth it.

Not anymore you don't heh - Level 1 weapons (well, the ones that give parts, you can still get level 1 primitive weapons) have been removed from all traders.  I'm guessing the main reason was to get away from stupidly cheap $400 guns being available on day one, but a side effect is you can't hoover up cheap weapon parts any more either.

 

On an unrelated note: I haven't seen this discussed much, apart from a report from a streamer from Japan, but the amount of ammo in zombie loot bags seems completely excessive.  On 75% loot I'm getting maybe 4-7 rounds from ammo piles, which seems completely reasonable, and then wham!  a yellow loot bag will contain 40 rounds every time.  Not a bug per se so I haven't bug reported and I'm sure devs are aware and will consider tuning the balance further.

[BluntTongs]

1 hour ago, madmole said:

Any time you take the player out of the game they feel less attached. Replanting seeds is a good mechanic and makes players feel more invested in their crops.

After having given it some thought, you make a good point - it does make the process of farming more active than passive, even if just for a comparatively small amount each week. It's busywork, but it's busywork I'm okay with since combat makes up a pretty hefty chunk of the game and a nice spot of farm management helps break it up.

Personally I'd really prefer to get more seeds outright than crops, then having to spend more time counting beans and crafting kernels to replant the fields, but I understand it's meant to help reward smaller "plant whatever" gardens.

 

Hell, if we're really gonna go whole-hog with farming investments, maybe auto-regrowth could even be reintroduced later on through fancy, expensive-in-materials-and/or-dukes "hydroponics planter" blocks for endgame farming sort of like how solar is for electrical generation. "Yeah, you want to be a lazy farmer so bad? Invest in it." I think that could work.

[Kosmic Kerman]

1 hour ago, madmole said:

I scrap every weapon of the same class and buy tier 1 verisons from the trader and scrap them to get enough parts. It's worth it.

I hear what you are saying here....but:

 

1) I don't think crafting should be so trader reliant especially not when you are unlocking a recipe with a perk point. The trader is great but there should be viable alternatives. My point was that the accumulation of shotgun parts in particular was so abysmal that crafting your T2 primary weapon was either impossible or ill-advised since you would eventually loot a comparable or better weapon and should be saving parts for the T3. I am also willing to be patient and slowly acquire parts but by the time I've acquired the parts I will have already looted a better or comparable gun.

 

2) I have not seen an abundance of shotguns at the trader. I will keep a better eye out on my next play through.

 

3) There seems to be a drastic reduction in the number of parts that drop from loot in A20. In addition to impacting the crafting of primary weapons, it has a knock on effect to turrets (both pistol and shotgun). While the turrets are out of favor now due to Demo Zombies, it would still be nice to craft them when you get lucky and find the schematic for defending your crafting base. But when such a small number of parts drop, you end up saving them to craft a weapon since those have much more value than turrets.

[meilodasreh]

28 minutes ago, Jost Amman said:

Lol, I think someone on Steam found out a very funny bug! 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/251570/discussions/0/3196990234732572647/?tscn=1639475301#c3196990234733127619

Wow that's a brain twister.

faatal will love to sort that one out. 

madmole will surely award him the "bugbuster of the month badge" if he kills it 😄

 

 

28 minutes ago, madmole said:

I love fun and lots of zombies just like anyone else, but also have the responsibility of keeping it sane and running decent

You seem to have found the sweet spot between too much performance impact and the feeling of being too lonely and everything is absolutely abandoned.

Especially in towns/cities, there's now that great scary feeling that there's always something there, and any moment you can be attacked...and it's not just a feeling 👍

Thx and congrats for all that work, it was absolutely worth the wait.

 

 

On another note:

Can anyone with a decent hardware setup mod it in that screamers do exclusively spawn other screamers, and then upload a vid of them filling up the map?