Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[MajorMunchy]

So i see that we have devs working on A21 stuff...why are their resources there and not on polishing up/getting bugs fixed on A20? are their skills not worth while there or can they just not help in anyway way? AKA they dont know how to fix bugs and are only designers/artists? just wondering....cause if they can fix bugs why not...would be a shame if A20 was delayed a month or so just cause you did not pool your resources in the right places at the right times

Just now, MajorMunchy said:

So i see that we have devs working on A21 stuff...why are their resources there and not on polishing up/getting bugs fixed on A20? are their skills not worth while there or can they just not help in anyway way? AKA they dont know how to fix bugs and are only designers/artists? just wondering....cause if they can fix bugs why not...would be a shame if A20 was delayed a month or so just cause you did not pool your resources in the right places at the right times

then i see this lol so maybe i am right..?
 

Welcome to the Alpha 20 Dev Diary. Here we will discuss upcoming features for Alpha 20.

 

RELEASE TARGET: October/November

 

[Matt115]

Well i was thinking about everything connected with tiles and i notice few things:

1. bus stop with pictures of missing/dead people looks rly good and my question is - can we expect more similiar  "elements"?

2. . there is a lot of blood everywhere but there is anywhere dead bodies outside - in old alpha you could find dead corpses on road and it was so good so will added corpses on benches roads on bus stops ?

3. well number of cars is so small so we can expect more cars in the future on street? maybe crashed cars , military cars on the road etc?

4. will be in future some "blockaded" on roads like collapsed building lying on road. military barricade , maybe crashed plane or cars etc?

5.  well we see a lot of "flat junk" on road but small number of object junk so will be more of them in future?

[Guppycur]

Watched the latest stream.

 

...I was blown away more than a lady boy in Bangkok.

 

Like, wow.  Fantastic stuff. 

 

Fantastic job kin, fantastic job builders. 

[Sethiel]

36 minutes ago, MajorMunchy said:

RELEASE TARGET: October/November

 

I'm a bit confused ... where is this coming from? What's the source? Is this in any way based in reality?

[Roland]

42 minutes ago, MajorMunchy said:

So i see that we have devs working on A21 stuff...why are their resources there and not on polishing up/getting bugs fixed on A20? are their skills not worth while there or can they just not help in anyway way? AKA they dont know how to fix bugs and are only designers/artists? just wondering....cause if they can fix bugs why not...would be a shame if A20 was delayed a month or so just cause you did not pool your resources in the right places at the right times

 

It's a team. Everyone does their part and acts in the role that is best for the whole. Might as well ask why an entire soccer team doesn't stand in front of the goal to all help the goalie block shots. Bugs are assigned to the programmers that are intimately familiar with the parts of the game that they have been working on. If your plan could actually work and be effective, rest assured, they would do it.

 

4 minutes ago, Sethiel said:

 

I'm a bit confused ... where is this coming from? What's the source? Is this in any way based in reality?

 

It comes from the first page of this thread. The source is TFP. Real as real gets. TBH, that is probably just a softening blow to get people used to the idea of Mid-November. The first target was simply an estimate, not a promise.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Roland (see edit history)

[Doomofman]

It is worth nothing that the Release Target on the first page has changed since yesterday when it was original a quote from Rick saying experimental would likely be out by Oct 31st but I guess that target has been stretched a bit with how it's phrased now

[MechanicalLens]

27 minutes ago, Roland said:

 

It's a team. Everyone does their part and acts in the role that is best for the whole. Might as well ask why an entire soccer team doesn't stand in front of the goal to all help the goalie block shots. Bugs are assigned to the programmers that are intimately familiar with the parts of the game that they have been working on. If your plan could actually work and be effective, rest assured, they would do it.

 

 

It comes from the first page of this thread. The source is TFP. Real as real gets. TBH, that is probably just a softening blow to get people used to the idea of Mid-November. The first target was simply an estimate, not a promise.

 

My prediction is still mid-January.

4 minutes ago, Doomofman said:

It is worth nothing that the Release Target on the first page has changed since yesterday when it was original a quote from Rick saying experimental would likely be out by Oct 31st but I guess that target has been stretched a bit with how it's phrased now

 

Nevertheless, I've been seeing an ocean of comments where people believe that October 31st is to be taken as gospel. In my opinion it was a mistake on TFP's part to include that info in the stream it was "announced" in as well as the front of the Dev Diary. Even though the front page has been changed once again, perhaps it would be best if it was relabeled a third time to be "when it's done". Even using the language of, "We have a tiny goal, not a promise, that experimental may arrive around x time", people respond with, "Gotcha, so it is guaranteed that experimental will be released at x time", and when it isn't, people may riot. Expect a wave of negative comments once Halloween passes, mark my words.

[dcsobral]

9 hours ago, Blake_ said:

To be honest I've never used Nitrogen maps. They sound polluting and unhealthy. 

Nope. The nitrogen gas (as opposed to element) is not toxic and, in fact, comprises 78% of Earth's atmosphere. 

5 hours ago, Doomofman said:

 

I'll probably use RWG for the first few play throughs and then (presuming it gets updated to work with the new tile system) use KingGen after that to add CompoPack stuff. Especially for Darkness Falls so I don't have to deal with Khaine's sadistic bumpy terrain

Do you realize you don't need to use KingGen to add CompoPack?

[Roland]

1 hour ago, MechanicalLens said:

My prediction is still mid-January.

 

The best way to not be disappointed.

 

1 hour ago, MechanicalLens said:

In my opinion it was a mistake on TFP's part to include that info in the stream it was "announced" in as well as the front of the Dev Diary.

 

The troll in me is always happy when an estimated target date is given. lol

 

1 hour ago, MechanicalLens said:

Expect a wave of negative comments once Halloween passes, mark my words.

 

We've weathered those same riots 19 times now and will again.

[Laz Man]

2 hours ago, Guppycur said:

Watched the latest stream.

 

...I was blown away more than a lady boy in Bangkok.

 

Like, wow.  Fantastic stuff. 

 

Fantastic job kin, fantastic job builders. 

 

I predict alot of people might do a couple quests here and there but will get sucked in just roaming around the map now nomadic style.

 

The tile system does a nice job immersing you to want to just keep exploring every nook and cranny of a city.

 

Some of the POIs markers in downtown tiles are close enough together which leads some pretty cool emergent gameplay opportunities if players are willing to take a "leap" of faith.

 

That and turn on feral sense as well for even more intense fun.

[MechanicalLens]

Will the Wasteland biome be as barren and empty as shown in the most recent dev stream?

 

Also, are biome gamestage/lootstage multipliers still coming to A20?

[Guppycur]

I got this.

 

Wasteland will be the last biome to be worked on, since it's the one with the bandits and the Duke.  I wouldn't expect any significant changes to it until bandits. 

1 hour ago, Laz Man said:

 

The tile system does a nice job immersing you to want to just keep exploring every nook and cranny of a city.

I liked how he kept wanting to show your poi, and even when he was *in the fk'n editor*, kept rolling the dice to make it come up instead of just loading it. 

 

Something something 05. 

[Laz Man]

7 minutes ago, Guppycur said:

I got this.

 

Wasteland will be the last biome to be worked on, since it's the one with the bandits and the Duke.  I wouldn't expect any significant changes to it until bandits. 

I liked how he kept wanting to show your poi, and even when he was *in the fk'n editor*, kept rolling the dice to make it come up instead of just loading it. 

 

Something something 05. 

 

I am glad he didn't go any further into that POI, as it has quite a few surprises in it. T4. 😆

[faatal]

4 hours ago, MajorMunchy said:

So i see that we have devs working on A21 stuff...why are their resources there and not on polishing up/getting bugs fixed on A20? are their skills not worth while there or can they just not help in anyway way? AKA they dont know how to fix bugs and are only designers/artists? just wondering....cause if they can fix bugs why not...would be a shame if A20 was delayed a month or so just cause you did not pool your resources in the right places at the right times

then i see this lol so maybe i am right..?
 

Welcome to the Alpha 20 Dev Diary. Here we will discuss upcoming features for Alpha 20.

 

RELEASE TARGET: October/November

As Roland said, people have specific roles. Programmers are not interchangeable. Over time two can be if they both learn a system well, but that rarely happens, since there is plenty of work to spread around. New programmers can be a time drain, since they often have to ask other programmers how stuff works and sometimes you could of just spent that time fixing it yourself. Then you get new bugs while fixing bugs, which just happened recently when a consultant tried to fix a bug where they don't understand all the game features, then I spend time looking at their bugs and trying to help, blah, blah, blah.

[Guppycur]

45 minutes ago, Laz Man said:

 

I am glad he didn't go any further into that POI, as it has quite a few surprises in it. T4. 😆

... definitely makes me want to type in the steam code 'guppyisawesome' to get a20 access... 

[MechanicalLens]

35 minutes ago, faatal said:

As Roland said, people have specific roles. Programmers are not interchangeable. Over time two can be if they both learn a system well, but that rarely happens, since there is plenty of work to spread around. New programmers can be a time drain, since they often have to ask other programmers how stuff works and sometimes you could of just spent that time fixing it yourself. Then you get new bugs while fixing bugs, which just happened recently when a consultant tried to fix a bug where they don't understand all the game features, then I spend time looking at their bugs and trying to help, blah, blah, blah.

 

I'm failing to see how TFP hiring new programmers is beneficial then.

[JamesKirk]

5 hours ago, Sethiel said:

 

I'm a bit confused ... where is this coming from? What's the source? Is this in any way based in reality?

1st page

[Roland]

39 minutes ago, MechanicalLens said:

 

I'm failing to see how TFP hiring new programmers is beneficial then.

 

The long game.

 

Building a larger team that will work on A21 and future projects is fine because they will have time to get up to speed. However, hiring new programmers or re-tasking people to try and shrink a 6-8 week timeline down to a 3 week timeline just to achieve an estimated release date mentioned off the cuff in a video is not beneficial. That's why some team members have begun some A21 tasks rather than being tasked to fix some of the bugs that faatal or Prime is assigned to handle.

Edited October 15, 2021 by Roland (see edit history)

[Scythe-Messiah]

Really loved the Random gen stream. The tile system is fantastic and I'm really looking forward to seeing just how expandable it is. I know it's by no means finished and that more is always better for making a random world feel less 'empty' and more alive.

 

What I'm most excited for is the part system. The ability to have 'parts' fill in and flesh out the all of the little unused spaces in the world will add considerable variation, immersion, and replayability -- not to mention great opportunities for emergent story telling; showing the player just how quickly society deteriorated as people abandoned everything to try and escape with their lives. 

 

I think the most jarring to me from the stream was how roads and parking lots just felt way too empty in the current build. Though I do recognize that cars need to be a finite resource and there's a limit to how many wrecks should be allowed. However, with all the bus stops I guess I was expecting to see some busses (I think I only saw them in the editor). With the addition of warehouse / package hub POIs, I was also looking to see some branded 53' trailers on the streets and especially in the commercial districts putting those loading docks on the stores to use. 

 

The part system sounds like it will let roads and parking lots have some great things to explore: survivor last stands, traffic jams, jackknifed 53'ers, military check points, abandoned construction/utility job sites, medical triage tents, power crews that never dispatched, rows of shipping containers/trailers, and all manner of human tragedy that the player gets to witness before inevitably scavenging from (or hopefully, questing to).

Edited October 15, 2021 by Scythe-Messiah
typos (see edit history)

[SnowDog1942]

38 minutes ago, Roland said:

 

The long game.

 

Building a larger team that will work on A21 and future projects is fine because they will have time to get up to speed. However, hiring new programmers or re-tasking people to try and shrink a 6-8 week timeline down to a 3 week timeline just to achieve an estimated release date mentioned off the cuff in a video is not beneficial. That's why some team members have begun some A21 tasks rather than being tasked to fix some of the bugs that faatal or Prime is assigned to handle.

I dont know how u do this, honestly.  God Bless.  So direct, articulate, and non combative.  Dealing with this same BS every missed release date.  

Guys, TFP always take longer than they think they will.  A few keyboard warriors on the forums arent gonna change release dates.   Cry all you want, it means nothing to people making decisions and does nothing to make them work faster.  
 

Also if i get a warning for this post, i honestly dont care - it was worth the vent

4 hours ago, Laz Man said:

 

I predict alot of people might do a couple quests here and there but will get sucked in just roaming around the map now nomadic style.

 

The tile system does a nice job immersing you to want to just keep exploring every nook and cranny of a city.

 

Some of the POIs markers in downtown tiles are close enough together which leads some pretty cool emergent gameplay opportunities if players are willing to take a "leap" of faith.

 

That and turn on feral sense as well for even more intense fun.

Hey Laz,  are the POIs u built as a modder going to become official POIs in the future?

Edited October 15, 2021 by SnowDog1942 (see edit history)

[Matt115]

14 minutes ago, SnowDog1942 said:

 

Hey Laz,  are the POIs u built as a modder going to become official POIs in the future?

Snowy i know what do you mean but for skeleton'sake : NO!  

[Laz Man]

1 hour ago, SnowDog1942 said:

I dont know how u do this, honestly.  God Bless.  So direct, articulate, and non combative.  Dealing with this same BS every missed release date.  

Guys, TFP always take longer than they think they will.  A few keyboard warriors on the forums arent gonna change release dates.   Cry all you want, it means nothing to people making decisions and does nothing to make them work faster.  
 

Also if i get a warning for this post, i honestly dont care - it was worth the vent

Hey Laz,  are the POIs u built as a modder going to become official POIs in the future?

 

Spiritually perhaps but not in their original forms.  It depends where the  needs are (e.g. districts, sizes, etc.).

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guppycur]

 

Credits to Mumpfy

 

Edited October 15, 2021 by Guppycur (see edit history)

[vergilsparda]

12 hours ago, Matt115 said:

OMG! THIS NEWSSTAND IS SO GOOD AND IN POLISH STYLE ( SEE RUCH KIOSK IN GOOGLE IF YOU WANT)

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

IDK WHO MAKE THIS BUT THX SO MUCH ! OMG OMG OMG OMG

DAMMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

DO YOU GUYS UNDERSTAND THIS!!!!

[a bunch of @'s im not sure will also count in my reply]  i'm so happy guys! omg

 

 

BTW TO DEVS! : CAN ANYONE SAY WHO MAKE THIS BECAUSE I WANT TO SAY THANKS TO THIS PERSON???

 

I'M IN PARADISE

 

JUST ADD SKELETON TOO AND IT will be perfect! 

 

Can I just say that your happiness and excitement over a newsstand makes me also very happy? I'm sure whoever made it will be very happy that you're excited about it 😁

 

And to those that answered me (faatal, @Blake_, @meganoth) thank you guys so much for answering my question. I kind of figured it worked that way (regular armor rating + individual pieces have small bonuses, full set has a big one/ a perk), but I wanted to make sure that it was at least partially true before I got my hopes up. If the new system is going to be like that, or something very similar, I'm absolutely fine with it! Mostly because (hopefully) one can mix and match pieces to suit their play styles / different aspects of their play styles. 

 

[not @ing faatal either since I'm sure he receives many of them daily and I don't want to clutter his notifications!]

 

*Another question for mostly the POI builders to answer, if maybe they haven't (I can't watch the streams because my internet is garbage): how difficult of a learning curve is it, would you say, to build using the new shapes? Is it more or less the same that it is now in a19, just with more shapes, or does it take some getting used to? And have you had your moment of "hey, I know a piece that would fit perfectly here", and be able to find that piece easily?

Edited October 16, 2021 by vergilsparda
* Added a second question to stay on topic, didn't feel like double posting (see edit history)

[Blake_]

22 minutes ago, vergilsparda said:

 

Can I just say that your happiness and excitement over a newsstand makes me also very happy? I'm sure whoever made it will be very happy that you're excited about it 😁

 

And to those that answered me (faatal, @Blake_, @meganoth) thank you guys so much for answering my question. I kind of figured it worked that way (regular armor rating + individual pieces have small bonuses, full set has a big one/ a perk), but I wanted to make sure that it was at least partially true before I got my hopes up. If the new system is going to be like that, or something very similar, I'm absolutely fine with it! Mostly because (hopefully) one can mix and match pieces to suit their play styles / different aspects of their play styles. 

Also, I forgot to tell you that each piece of the new 4-piece armour will have heat and cold resistance/isulation to various degrees. That was one of the reasons of deleting clothing in the first place, no clutter and meaningful pieces that can always become many sets . If those resistances will be a fixed value per piece/across pieces or a varied one, we don't know yet.