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Alpha 20 Dev Diary


madmole

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20 hours ago, faatal said:

The main functional change is biome weather parameters are in groups now, so something like a storm can change all parameters to ranges a storm should have.

 

Biome temperatures are in absolutes now and global temp is just a random +/-5.

 

Grace period is same.

 

There probably won't be many more changes (for a20) beyond that.

 

Thank you for the reply. It piqued my curiosity. Does this mean there is no longer global weather (like a global rainstorm or snowstorm), and that the weather is specific to a biome?

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On 1/22/2021 at 4:38 AM, faatal said:

You are blaming SI, when I don't think that is the main overhead. Profiling clearly shows chunk mesh and collider updates as the big overhead, which is primarily internal to Unity with data copying and PhysX updates. There are multiple chunk layers and their mesh and colliders update in the same frame, so hopefully I can slice that over multiple frames to reduces spikes. Have not tried changing it yet, since I tend to bounce between features, optimizations and bugs. There are some other mesh settings to try, plus some of our mesh building code could be faster. Our mesh building is on a separate thread (the faster part), but mesh copying to Unity has to be done on the main thread.

 

 

It's an utter PITA to use, being bleeding-edge tech with the associated missing features and scant/outdated documentation, but you may want to see if the DOTS system will help with this.  If you can get it working it certainly does make thiings smoother.

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15 minutes ago, Adam the Waster said:

ImageNew Tier 4 poi! Nice

 

Did the road worker guy stabbed the Stop sign into the ground, just to be faster to get our brains ?

Suspicious ?

Find out in the new A20 ! 

 

P.S. Forget the slogan words, can`t wait to try that . Keep kicking butts, Pimps. 

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Well, I need to ask, I have been tormented by this question for several days, I hope I am not alone :) Dear developers, please explain:
1. The image below the number 1 shows the concept of a primitive rifle, which, apparently, shoots 7.62 rounds. What will such a rifle be made of? After all, it looks too good for the primitive stage.
2. I understand that this is just a concept, but still it is a rifle with a lever mechanism, which implies faster reloading of rounds. If so, this weapon looks more profitable than a hunting rifle. How will these rifles be balanced?
3. The image below the number 2 shows, as it says on Twitter, a primitive shotgun. OK, but why is the hole in the barrel so small? As if for 9mm rounds or .44?
4. Under the number 3 is a picture of a weapon that was not presented to us. What's it? It looks "more shotgun" than under the number 2. Maybe there was just some mistake? :)
Thank you for your work, I can't wait for the A20.

guns.jpg

Edited by Games'n'Grumble (see edit history)
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@madmole

 

Hello, will A20 include anymore books?  All other weapons have a corresponding volume of books except Knives and Sledgehammers.  I know Night Stalker has some knife related perks but they feel ancillary and situational for a stealth build.  I know your a stickler for continuity so I just thought I'd mention it.

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Speaking of which, just for consistency's sake, is there a reason why the steel club and steel spear don't have schematics? Seems like a waste of a book slot to me. On top of that, I think I've brought this up before, there's no reason to lock the M60 schematic behind a high gamestage if the book to craft the item can be found on day 1.

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Faatal
I have a few questions regarding the "weather system;sky manager".

 

Why do the clouds not have variable opacity?
Can a gradient be used to allow for an opacity layer dependent on speed of change
parameter?
Is it possible to achieve without making clouds particles or objects?

 

What is the absolute variance rate of weather, wind ,fog, cloudthickness ,fogfade ,precipitation, snow?
Which if any parameter can be adjusted to allow for a subtle ebb and flow, instead of
a constant per biome.

 

Can a similar system to the "ambientInsideSpeed" be used to periodically change the
lighting and atmospheric conditions when outside?

 

Example: If fog is set 0,100 prob 1,  Then it would gradually get denser fof then slowly
regress. I ask because I was only able to achieve it during one playthrough, as I stood
in place in the desert, the bright sun cast shadows, then it became overcast; shadows
were removed.

 

I can use to gradient and shade it accordingly to partially achieve it, but it is still
a constant, because it goes according to time of day an not cloud cover windspeed parameter.

 

The thing that made me think of this is if you have 100% fog set, overcast sky blocking the
sun rays, and stand in the snow biome, the white snow particle screen will make distant objects
POIs, entities, etc. visible then enveloped by your fog overlay giving the appearance of interactive

environment.

 

So I wondered if this same principle can be used for the sunlight to simulated random cloud
density without a lot of extra calculations.

Edited by 4sheetzngeegles (see edit history)
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Guys just wanted to say thank you for creating such a stellar game! I know this isn't the place but appreciation where it's given y'know! You've been a gold standard IMO on how an indie team with a big following+EA game should sell themselves!

 

PS: When's the next dev stream?

 

 411306672_edthumbsup.jpeg.af282fdf4b611e455cb735e3770f8526.jpeg

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Do you want to discuss, debate, and give your opinion about Alpha 20?

Do you have a huge list of suggestions for Alpha 20?

Do you want to post memes and poke fun at what other users post?

Do you want to ask about A19 bugs?

Are you wondering where all your posts got moved?

 

This is your ticket to understanding.

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On 1/22/2021 at 12:59 AM, Blake_ said:

Are you guys planning to touch the animal code in some way ? meaning combat hit feedback (like the Zds currently have, currently the dogs just stop ) ; ability to bend and turn a bit more organically (IK bones stuff) ...etc ?

No plans, but it could happen months from now.

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On 1/22/2021 at 2:04 AM, KingSlayerGM said:

This feature is listed on the first page of this thread, and no work has been done on it?

Correct. That list of features is just a list of what we plan to do. It may be months before someone works on it and often features will get pushed back, because it can't be done in time or at all due to unforeseen circumstances. As the alpha progresses, the list tends to get updated to reflect where we are at, but is no guarantee of anything.

On 1/22/2021 at 8:27 AM, Irushian said:

@faatal, any chance of plugging one of the biggest exploits we see online with players clipping their head underground to see and also fire through everything? (This also works for turrets)

We have bug tickets for such things, so eventually they should get looked at.

On 1/22/2021 at 6:44 PM, khzmusik said:

 

Thank you for the reply. It piqued my curiosity. Does this mean there is no longer global weather (like a global rainstorm or snowstorm), and that the weather is specific to a biome?

Basically yes. There are and may still be some global parts, but it is all WIP.

On 1/23/2021 at 2:37 AM, MechanicalLens said:

Is the animal AI getting some polishing in Alpha 20? 😆

 

Not planned.

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On 1/24/2021 at 10:13 AM, 4sheetzngeegles said:

Faatal
I have a few questions regarding the "weather system;sky manager".

 

Why do the clouds not have variable opacity?
Can a gradient be used to allow for an opacity layer dependent on speed of change
parameter?
Is it possible to achieve without making clouds particles or objects?

 

What is the absolute variance rate of weather, wind ,fog, cloudthickness ,fogfade ,precipitation, snow?
Which if any parameter can be adjusted to allow for a subtle ebb and flow, instead of
a constant per biome.

 

Can a similar system to the "ambientInsideSpeed" be used to periodically change the
lighting and atmospheric conditions when outside?

 

Example: If fog is set 0,100 prob 1,  Then it would gradually get denser fof then slowly
regress. I ask because I was only able to achieve it during one playthrough, as I stood
in place in the desert, the bright sun cast shadows, then it became overcast; shadows
were removed.

 

I can use to gradient and shade it accordingly to partially achieve it, but it is still
a constant, because it goes according to time of day an not cloud cover windspeed parameter.

 

The thing that made me think of this is if you have 100% fog set, overcast sky blocking the
sun rays, and stand in the snow biome, the white snow particle screen will make distant objects
POIs, entities, etc. visible then enveloped by your fog overlay giving the appearance of interactive

environment.

 

So I wondered if this same principle can be used for the sunlight to simulated random cloud
density without a lot of extra calculations.

Clouds/sky/weather are legacy systems. They work how previous devs made them and then we refactor them to better meet the final design of the game. The why of designs is often lost and in the end I don't care, we just need to make it work to meet the goals of shipping the game. I've been cleaning up and rewriting those systems as time permits, but it is a big WIP.

 

Some of what you describe are just side effects of a combination of things and it may change by the time we go gold.

On 1/26/2021 at 6:29 AM, Games'n'Grumble said:

@faatal Hi! In one of the updates in the game, there is a test shader for an improved batching/instancing process. Will it improve in the A20? Any details?

Test features are usually for debugging and generally don't become normal features. I'm not sure what you are referring to, but probably not a change for a20.

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On 1/26/2021 at 6:25 PM, irontusk341 said:

once officially introduced, Will Bandits be optional to toggle in the menu before starting a new game?

I would guess yes. Not sure new game would matter. A bandit POI could just not spawn them if the option was turned off in an existing game.

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just curious here but for peer to peer games will we ever get the ability to pause the game if the players are paused in a game for example there are 3 people and if they all press escape it will pause the game and depends on how many people there are to do this of course completely random just i've thought about it for a long time as usual guys keep up the good work.

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