Alpha 20 Dev Diary

[KingSlayerGM 71]

17 hours ago, faatal said:

Each pregen world adds 300 MB to the install size, so we would probably stick with shipping just 3 for now.

Perhaps you could remove the alpha channel from biomes.png and splat3.png to save space? Moreover you don't actually need RGB channels for each pixel, do you? I mean, you could encode the same information in just 1 byte per pixel, instead of 3 (or instead of 4 if you use the alpha channel)...

Also I've noticed that the RAW format that you use for the heightmap ('dtm.raw') uses a lot more space than a 16bit png... And png is lossless

What do you think?

[faatal 1,467]

2 hours ago, KingSlayerGM said:

Perhaps you could remove the alpha channel from biomes.png and splat3.png to save space? Moreover you don't actually need RGB channels for each pixel, do you? I mean, you could encode the same information in just 1 byte per pixel, instead of 3 (or instead of 4 if you use the alpha channel)...

Also I've noticed that the RAW format that you use for the heightmap ('dtm.raw') uses a lot more space than a 16bit png... And png is lossless

What do you think?

Sure, we could do a lot of things, but that is low priority.

[rngchiefbob 3]

Hopefully ya can find more programmers to help you out, keep up the good work man

 

[Blake_ 358]

6 hours ago, faatal said:

Sure, we could do a lot of things, but that is low priority.

I'm sure you don't hear this often, but I'm very thankful that you are part of TFP team. When you are around, features magically pop up . You should be called a "Programming Fairy Sasquatch", 'cause you grant wishes like vehicles, Zd AI and optimization while being a rare breed of methodic worker. I still remember A16 with all the pain it gave to my PC. 

 

Hell no to the 1 fps hordes. +1 for the future. 

[Adam the Waster 715]

On 2/23/2021 at 1:15 PM, faatal said:

The pregen maps will be regenerated using the newer RWG, so they should be totally different.

but will Navezgane get more buildings in the areas we could not go in A18.  but got extended during A19 

[roughgalaxy 5]

Got a pair of questions today,

 

1: Is Stealth going to get an update at some point?

• I know having poi triggers for ambushes are important for a good scare, but I also see people with really good stealth loadouts get totally boned by established abmush lines. I've also noticed these same people with a suppressed pistol wake up an entire POI taking one sneak shot. Is that a bug with suppressed pistols? I would think that good stealth skills/gear that you could roll through a POI with a suppressed pistol and wipe out everything Sam Fisher style.

 

2: Are traps going to be getting a rework/any plans for new traps?

• Blade traps take a lot resources to make and maintain, and currently break down really fast compared to the upkeep cost. I think a lot of people would like to see some addition trap options as well such as flamer traps or hammer traps (more to push zombies around than damage). I know many players who complain that they don't get xp from spikes (yes I know this is a problem with the ownership of the object because of its block type) but something like powered spike traps (think of the classic trap where the spikes jut out of the ground when walked on) could be a really fun higher tier to the spikes. Wood > Iron > powered could be an interesting track to follow.

That's all I got for today. Looking forward to seeing some more info on A20.

Edited Thursday at 04:56 PM by roughgalaxy
Spelling/grammar (see edit history)

[Weazelsun 4]

@madmole Question about a specific POI, the Settlement_01 and PiggyBank.

 

• What are the chances of us seeing more types of these in the future?
• Is there any plan of turning the Settlement_01 POI into a central trading hub or as the home-base for "The Duke"/ bandits?

 

 

[Firecat 4]

@Devs,

Are there any plans to add a game option to control sleeper respawns? For instance similar to the loot respawn where it could be something like every 3 days, 7 days, 15 days, or never.

 

Many people find the rate at which POIs refill with zombies to be immersion breaking, plus it would add another way of playing the game to be able to set the goal of "clearing" a town... or even the entire map. 

 

In addition, it makes sense as a companion setting to loot respawn. If you are worried about folks exploiting the setting so the can have the loot respawn and go reboot thing without having to fight again, you could probably make it so that loot respawn is locked to "never" if zombie respawn is set to the same. Maybe make it so the loot respawn time just cant be set to a shorter period than the zombie respawn.

 

In any case, I feel it's a setting that has been needed for awhile, and it isn't such a niche thing it should just be left to the modders.

 

Thanks for all your hard work, btw, and looking forward to everything going forward! A20 looks pretty cool.

[BenZ0 0]

Hi, this sounds very interesting, cant wait to play the new patch. I have some suggestions I collected over the past few months that I came up by myself and also some friends I showed this game that has barely knowledge of the game but could give some first impression that they realized.

 

1. The current movement feels slow and sluggish. I think it would be a great improvement to the game to do something about the general player movement and running animation and also speed. Running feels not like running, more like walking faster. Also maybe add a smaller climb mechanic where you can heave yourself on a 3 block wall. That could open up some new cool ways to traverse povs.

 

2. Visual damage on Zombies. Now it looks very unsatisfiying hitting a zombie with a gun or club, the movement of getting hit is fine but there is no visual sign of actually damaging the zombie. There should be more gore for example holes in the body or limbs they lose more frequently. Maybe also beeing able to shoot the jaw off. Shooting off the helmet or some other armor parts. The holes in the body doesn't has to be precise, a example of black ops zombie mode, you can shoot a part of the stomache area away. This will help to let the fight feel more responsive and dynamic, also making it abit easier of saperating which zombie you already shot and which not.

 

3. Inventory response. Clicking and navigating in the inventory or inside any other windows like inside the forge for example is very uncomfortable and seems overly complicated. For example you always have to click a second time to interact with items, if you want to craft something you have to make unnecessary extra clicks and that could be way easier. I know the wording is weird so I make a example: Imagine you are in a fight with some zombies, you need to heal yourself with bandages so you have to go onto the bandages inside your inventory, click on them and then press again with your button to actually heal. This small extra time for the click is just unnecassary. 

 

4. Trailers: Maybe do a small gameplay trailers for the big patches to showcase the changes. This would help to build up hype and also give new ppl intel of what is coming to the game. Increasing the interest of players outside of the game and also keeping the interest fresh for older players.

 

The third point was a concern of my new starting friends. When you get used to it like me after 700 hours then it doesnt seem a problem but I get where they get that from. I hope these points can give you some ideas or help you somehow for further improvements, I still really enjoy the game and I am looking forward to see the game growing even further!

 

 

Edited 19 hours ago by BenZ0 (see edit history)

[SnowDog1942 520]

On 2/24/2021 at 11:06 PM, Blake_ said:

 I still remember A16 with all the pain it gave to my PC. 

 

Hell no to the 1 fps hordes. +1 for the future. 

Huh? For me A16 ran like a champ, 17 was horrid, A18 was was almost on par with A16, but A19 took a step backwards.

A19 is not bad, just not as good as A16 or A18 as far as performance goes, for my PC anyway.

[Adam the Waster 715]

23 hours ago, Weazelsun said:

Settlement

"I got a word of another settlement that needs you're help. ill put it on your map."



Sorry force of habit

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Adam the Waster (see edit history)

[roughgalaxy 5]

6 hours ago, Firecat said:

@Devs,

Are there any plans to add a game option to control sleeper respawns? For instance similar to the loot respawn where it could be something like every 3 days, 7 days, 15 days, or never.

 

Many people find the rate at which POIs refill with zombies to be immersion breaking, plus it would add another way of playing the game to be able to set the goal of "clearing" a town... or even the entire map. 

 

In addition, it makes sense as a companion setting to loot respawn. If you are worried about folks exploiting the setting so the can have the loot respawn and go reboot thing without having to fight again, you could probably make it so that loot respawn is locked to "never" if zombie respawn is set to the same. Maybe make it so the loot respawn time just cant be set to a shorter period than the zombie respawn.

 

In any case, I feel it's a setting that has been needed for awhile, and it isn't such a niche thing it should just be left to the modders.

 

Thanks for all your hard work, btw, and looking forward to everything going forward! A20 looks pretty cool.

 

You know, I actually like this. It could give you a sense of reclaiming the area from the zombies ala state of decay. It does kind of break immersion seeing poi's refill with zombies, especially if you're on an island because... where do the fresh zombies come from?

[Sigil_Thane 24]

1 hour ago, roughgalaxy said:

 

You know, I actually like this. It could give you a sense of reclaiming the area from the zombies ala state of decay. It does kind of break immersion seeing poi's refill with zombies, especially if you're on an island because... where do the fresh zombies come from?

Optionally, having the sleepers respawn gradually over X days... one at a time, in random places, would be cool too. Keep you on your toes.

[roughgalaxy 5]

2 Items today (I knew I forgot some yesterday)

 

1: Quallity

• This may be more of a revamp suggestion but possibly not too difficult. I would like to see quality of items balanced a bit more... static. I feel like a T6 stone shovel should NOT be better than a T1 iron shovel. It can be disappointing to finally find an iron shovel* (insert any tool or weapon here really) only for it to be worse than the lower tier item you would want to replace. I would like to advocate a more linear quality curve in this regard.

2: Air drops

• Not an original idea of mine. Heard it from Capp00 who got it from a viewer. It would be neat to be able to craft some kind of radio beacon that would draw the plane to drop the supplies within an upgradeable (1k/500m/250m) range of the beacon instead of a random distance from your current position.

[luki12163 0]

Are there any mods (for vehicles) that are already ready or in development? I would really love to know what mods are planned and how will they work?

 

Also is there any news about drone and if it's coming to A20?

 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by luki12163 (see edit history)

[SnowDog1942 520]

1 hour ago, luki12163 said:

Are there any mods (for vehicles) that are already ready or in development? I would really love to know what mods are planned and how will they work?

 

 

Probably all kinds of cool stuff.  For example.

 

Nerf the already slow default speed and make a mod to get it back to normal again.

Nerf the armor and make a mod to get it back to normal

Nerf the headlights and make a mod to get them back to normal.

 

Edited 9 hours ago by SnowDog1942 (see edit history)

[Blake_ 358]

10 hours ago, SnowDog1942 said:

 

Probably all kinds of cool stuff.  For example.

 

Nerf the already slow default speed and make a mod to get it back to normal again.

Nerf the armor and make a mod to get it back to normal

Nerf the headlights and make a mod to get them back to normal.

 

That statement is like saying you love kids. It can be interpreted however we like, but we as human beings will be annoyed and ban Blake before hearing that you are a father and a great man. The same goes for a dev trying to explain that vehicles are OP in armour, free lights and balance/torque and should be balanced with a proper mod system. We should ban Blake nevertheless. To hell with Blake.