A20 Developer Diary Discussions

[HeLLKnight]

On 6/26/2021 at 10:53 PM, BluntTongs said:

100% on board with more creative Zs like this one. Gives it more diversity, both visually and gameplay-wise. Awesome work indeed!

 

Agreed. I love special zombies in Dying Light and Left4dead and how they add different threats to gameplay, hope there are more coming to 7d2d.  I find current radiated zeds has the potential to add more zombies behaviors or special attacks, other than doing more damage or have more hp-recovering hp.

 

I like to let my imagination fly, a special zombie like the last revealed could do one or more of these:

 

- Only ranged radiation attacks, and running from you keeping distance or trying to hide

- Leave radiation puddles on his way that last a few seconds, the player takes damage if step on

- Radiated Fat tourist has gas area surrounding him that convert normal zeds with standard damage to same zeds but visually dripping radiation and doing radiation damage

- Crawler has an attack that does not hurt, but tries to grab your leg for a few seconds to prevent your movement and so other zombies kill you

- Wight zombie tries to throw you to the ground and bite you, and if succeed all the animation, always infect you

 

Other than that special power and attacks mad ideas, do you plan to add variations to AI pathfinding or behaviors in the future? I would like to see a combination of some smarter zeds with current a19 AI, looking for the weakest spot in your defense, while other are more fool zeds but a bit less predictable too like a16

[RhinoW]

On 6/28/2021 at 3:52 AM, Roland said:

 

I tested the drone a bit today and can answer some of these without stealing the thunder of any future dev stream.

 

1) It follows you around and increases your storage. For those who already mod their storage to huge capacity, the drone will seem underwhelming and unnecessary. However, for those who play it straight the drone will be a nice bonus backpack.

 

2) You can build multiple drones and pass them out to friends and family.

 

3) Only one will follow you. When trying to place another I was informed that I was at the capacity of drones following. I maxed everything out and read all the tech books and still only one was allowable.

 

4) Extra storage in its basic unmodded version

 

5) As of now there is no option to recharge or refuel.

 

6) They ignore it and it generally hovers out of their reach anyway.

 

7) The drone does have mods. How many and which mods will surely be the subject of a future dev stream.

 

8. There is not a built in camera nor any switching perspectives or taking over the controls of the drone and flying around viewing the world from its perspective. Whether a mod camera will allow that functionality in the future is unknown.

 

Bonus: The drone paths extremely well. I used Godmode to quickly move through a building to a room somewhere in its interior and the drone flew around finding its way through the building to get to me. If it got blocked because a closed door was between us then it flew around in circles seemingly agitated like a puppy separated from its beloved master. It always stays behind you and never once got in the way when shooting enemies. I would say that your expectation for it should be that it is a bonus backpack which--again-- if people have been spoiling themselves for years by modding for themselves huge backpacks then the drone won't seem very spectacular. Of course there are mods for the drone and those mods turn it into a backpack with benefits. But those benefits will be shown at a later date.

 

 

 

 

So the drone is a flying backpack by default, shouldn't the storage actually be a mod while his default behaviour would be to help you in a fight? Is the shock hit on the zombies discarded? Let's just hope it's not too expensive to craft then, because the drone really just sounds more like a gimmick than a useful craft (unlike the junk turrets).

[Roland]

2 hours ago, RhinoW said:

 the drone really just sounds more like a gimmick than a useful craft (unlike the junk turrets).

 

That's exactly what people said about the sledge turret at first. It may not end up being something you'll see as an important addition or it may end up being something that people rant about because it is seen as so critical that they feel forced to put points into Intelligence to guarantee they can craft one. There are still unknowns and still some future iterating after it gets implemented in A20.

[Blake_]

19 minutes ago, Roland said:

 

That's exactly what people said about the sledge turret at first. It may not end up being something you'll see as an important addition or it may end up being something that people rant about because it is seen as so critical that they feel forced to put points into Intelligence to guarantee they can craft one. There are still unknowns and still some future iterating after it gets implemented in A20.

I see that even yourself are underestimating the drone if just a little bit. Veterans know the importance of more storage capacity far too well. That singlehandedly makes the drone the most important gizmo in this game, far above any weapon. You can survive without shooting or "meleeing" a single zd by just using traps, but without storage, there is no game.

 

There's no : "plz wait and you'll see" with the drone. It's just: "YAS, MOAR SPACE".

[BFT2020]

8 minutes ago, Blake_ said:

I see that even yourself are underestimating the drone if just a little bit. Veterans know the importance of more storage capacity far too well. That singlehandedly makes the drone the most important gizmo in this game, far above any weapon. You can survive without shooting or "meleeing" a single zd by just using traps, but without storage, there is no game.

 

There's no : "plz wait and you'll see" with the drone. It's just: "YAS, MOAR SPACE".

Especially for those that play pretty much vanilla or mods that don't break storage capability.  Having that drone with my intelligence builds will mean less trips back out to my storage chests outside a POI that I am looting / scrapping.  If you play with mods that remove that restriction (i.e. remove any storage / carrying penalties), then this drone will be a "meh".

[dcsobral]

9 minutes ago, BFT2020 said:

Especially for those that play pretty much vanilla or mods that don't break storage capability.  Having that drone with my intelligence builds will mean less trips back out to my storage chests outside a POI that I am looting / scrapping.  If you play with mods that remove that restriction (i.e. remove any storage / carrying penalties), then this drone will be a "meh".

Amen to that.  Was there any mention of when you are expected to get a mod? Get it early enough in the game and it will be absolutely awesome, but I'll take any inventory space you throw my way. I could see using it to store stuff like lockpicks, for example, that I want to have around but don't use that often. Things you leave in the vehicle, generally speaking. And if you don't want to waste the drone space with stuff you leave in the vehicle, then no one needs to sell you the value of extra storage.

 

I'm curious about the mods. Maybe there's an attack mod? An extra storage mod would also make sense, as would a medic mod, but what else could be done with it?

 

I know! A splint mod! Use the drone as a crutch!  🤣

Edited June 29, 2021 by dcsobral (see edit history)

[RhinoW]

I don't play with mods either, and the drone still seems underwhelming. While the sledge turret did get improvements, let's not forget it's a turret made for home defense, not really a weapon to carry around (using it like that is really just for the memes).

 

 The drone strikes me as the third weapon type in the intelligence arsenal (baton, turrets and drone), much like in perception is explosions, javelins and rifles, and because of that I would really like to see it having more impact than what I've gathered so far. You either add it with an intent or don't. It seems that so far TFP has stayed true to their A17 re-route of the game's balancing and have made all their additions have a purpose (weapons finally having their playstyle purpose/related skills and feel imposing). I hope the drone sticks to the same formula and doesn't feel off or useless. That's just all.

 

But only time will tell...

[jorbascrumps]

There's got to be more to the drone than storage that they haven't revealed yet, otherwise they would have just given us an expanded backpack mod. Hopefully we find out soon.

[dcsobral]

4 minutes ago, jorbascrumps said:

There's got to be more to the drone than storage that they haven't revealed yet, otherwise they would have just given us an expanded backpack mod. Hopefully we find out soon.

An expanded backpack doesn't have the same coolness factor. Nor can it be shot down.

[jorbascrumps]

Just now, dcsobral said:

An expanded backpack doesn't have the same coolness factor. Nor can it be shot down.

I stand corrected 😄

[Roland]

1 hour ago, dcsobral said:

An expanded backpack doesn't have the same coolness factor. Nor can it be shot down.

 

It is definitely cool as it zips around behind you. I never tested whether it can be shot down....

1 hour ago, jorbascrumps said:

There's got to be more to the drone than storage that they haven't revealed yet, otherwise they would have just given us an expanded backpack mod. Hopefully we find out soon.

 

There is. I just talked about the basic drone without any enhancements. Anything beyond what I shared will have to be revealed by a developer.

[meganoth]

3 hours ago, BFT2020 said:

Especially for those that play pretty much vanilla or mods that don't break storage capability.  Having that drone with my intelligence builds will mean less trips back out to my storage chests outside a POI that I am looting / scrapping.  If you play with mods that remove that restriction (i.e. remove any storage / carrying penalties), then this drone will be a "meh".

 

Remember that the drone seems to be the tier3 robotic thingy, as such it will be available when you already have lots of perk points and lots of pockets in your clothing (except if TFP removes those pocket mods). I play vanilla without enlarged storage mods and at that time in the game I usually have neither encumbrance problems nor storage problems because of a motorbike with (what I feel is) generous storage and a tendency to scrap 80% of what I find.

 

For people who can't throw away anything that may still be heaven. I feel underwhelmed though and will have to see if a drone mod gets me interested.

 

[Matt115]

45 minutes ago, Roland said:

 

It is definitely cool as it zips around behind you. I never tested whether it can be shot down....

 

There is. I just talked about the basic drone without any enhancements. Anything beyond what I shared will have to be revealed by a developer.

 

9 minutes ago, meganoth said:

 

Remember that the drone seems to be the tier3 robotic thingy, as such it will be available when you already have lots of perk points and lots of pockets in your clothing (except if TFP removes those pocket mods). I play vanilla without enlarged storage mods and at that time in the game I usually have neither encumbrance problems nor storage problems because of a motorbike with (what I feel is) generous storage and a tendency to scrap 80% of what I find.

 

For people who can't throw away anything that may still be heaven. I feel underwhelmed though and will have to see if a drone mod gets me interested.

 

Well honestly it's like cart from valheim but it is not op because it is quiet expensive right?

[dcsobral]

27 minutes ago, Matt115 said:

 

Well honestly it's like cart from valheim but it is not op because it is quiet expensive right?

Totally off-topic right now, but... you find Valheim's cart overpowered??? Now that is a perspective that is entirely new to me.

[mandeglor]

It would be great if the drone could be programmed to automatically return by itself to the base and download its content (in some kind of docking) and then return to the player.

[ShellHead]

34 minutes ago, meganoth said:

 

Remember that the drone seems to be the tier3 robotic thingy, as such it will be available when you already have lots of perk points and lots of pockets in your clothing (except if TFP removes those pocket mods). I play vanilla without enlarged storage mods and at that time in the game I usually have neither encumbrance problems nor storage problems because of a motorbike with (what I feel is) generous storage and a tendency to scrap 80% of what I find.

 

For people who can't throw away anything that may still be heaven. I feel underwhelmed though and will have to see if a drone mod gets me interested.

 

I’m still not actually certain this is still INT’s T3 robotic line, it’s very different from the rest of the line and arguably isn’t an actual weapon. It’s possible that the robotics perk get dramatically overhauled so it can apply useful bonuses to the drone but given that the drone’s base function is as a flying storage chest, the perk would have to have a wide array of bonuses to be able to be useful for both automated turrets and the Heli-Pack™️
I’m guessing it’s another tool/utility item that might not actually have a governing perk.

[meganoth]

31 minutes ago, Matt115 said:

 

Well honestly it's like cart from valheim but it is not op because it is quiet expensive right?

 

Well, but in 7D2D you already have a minibike-cart, a motorbike-cart and a 4x4-cart.

Additionally it will probably be found in loot like any other tier3 weapon. Do you think your M60 was expensive? I simply found one for free 😁

[Matt115]

4 minutes ago, dcsobral said:

Totally off-topic right now, but... you find Valheim's cart overpowered??? Now that is a perspective that is entirely new to me.

i mean - if you put wooden cart ( well we have western stuff ) or metal small cast ( you know like hobo) it could be too op in 7dtd because - too cheap right? so drones is something like that but more expensive 

[meganoth]

3 minutes ago, ShellHead said:

I’m still not actually certain this is still INT’s T3 robotic line, it’s very different from the rest of the line and arguably isn’t an actual weapon. It’s possible that the robotics perk get dramatically overhauled so it can apply useful bonuses to the drone but given that the drone’s base function is as a flying storage chest, the perk would have to have a wide array of bonuses to be able to be useful for both automated turrets and the Heli-Pack™️
I’m guessing it’s another tool/utility item that might not actually have a governing perk.

 

I would think that Roland might be able to answer that, as it isn't "a feature", just a classification. And as it originally was definitely announced as the tier3 robotic thingy (remember that it had weaponry originally so that it was much better recognizable as tier3 robot) it is definitely not news if it still is.

 

[ShellHead]

Yeah, i’m thinking that people just haven’t asked that question yet under the assumption that the designation of T3 hasn’t changed.

[samljer]

2 hours ago, jorbascrumps said:

There's got to be more to the drone than storage that they haven't revealed yet, otherwise they would have just given us an expanded backpack mod. Hopefully we find out soon.

 

Of course there is, he said it just now.

Those details will be given later.

Im assuming a "flying junk turret" of sorts.

A radar that shows Zds on your map or compass (like animal tracking) would also be cool.

 

See #7

Edited June 29, 2021 by samljer (see edit history)

[MechanicalLens]

11 minutes ago, hiemfire said:

I may have missed if this has been brought up and responded to previously, but are you planning on revisiting the set bonus for the Shotgun Messiah magazine series with the removal of downgrading blocks? Being able to inadvertently drop a poi on your own head while fighting sleepers thanks to stray pellets seems less like a bonus and more like a liability. Having someone else willfully do so out of spiteful glee on a pve server is also something that should be considered.

 

Agreed. With the block degradation being removed, the shotgun won't one-shot wooden blocks to frames, but to actual air. I can see this being a great source of grievance, in more ways than one.

[Matt115]

58 minutes ago, meganoth said:

 

Well, but in 7D2D you already have a minibike-cart, a motorbike-cart and a 4x4-cart.

Additionally it will probably be found in loot like any other tier3 weapon. Do you think your M60 was expensive? I simply found one for free 😁

Well perks are "resources" too but you can sell them or trade but still resources - minibike can keep items motorbike and 4x4 too but you can't shot from them. time is resources to - grinding loot from poi or mining etc . IF m60 was expensive? sometimes yes  sometimes no. ofc you can find it but you pay it with time and you it is not guaranted like lottery - 1 time i and my friend we had auger chainsaw good guns but we coudn't find any beaker . in next world we found a 3 beakers but any chainsaw parts etc. so - minibike is cheaper that 4x4 right? but it venicle - drones are more like gloves and minibike are like socks - more of them wear on feet so have similiar function but going outside in only socks will be as unconfortable as wearing shoes inside

[meganoth]

1 hour ago, MechanicalLens said:

 

Agreed. With the block degradation being removed, the shotgun won't one-shot wooden blocks to frames, but to actual air. I can see this being a great source of grievance, in more ways than one.

 

Why would that be? If they remove downgrading they have to add the HPs of the downgrades to the blocks because that is the only way to NOT change balance. And it is very very simple to do

 

Example: If wood block has 200 HP and wood frame 50 HP (numbers invented) and wood block doesn't downgrade to wood frame anymore, the new wood block will have 250 HP. Because that way balance is not changed

 

Or is it that excess damage from shooting the wood block doesn't get transfered to the wood frame? Maybe I should test that first 😉

Edited June 29, 2021 by meganoth (see edit history)

[meganoth]

1 hour ago, Matt115 said:

Well perks are "resources" too but you can sell them or trade but still resources - minibike can keep items motorbike and 4x4 too but you can't shot from them. time is resources to - grinding loot from poi or mining etc . IF m60 was expensive? sometimes yes  sometimes no. ofc you can find it but you pay it with time and you it is not guaranted like lottery - 1 time i and my friend we had auger chainsaw good guns but we coudn't find any beaker . in next world we found a 3 beakers but any chainsaw parts etc. so - minibike is cheaper that 4x4 right? but it venicle - drones are more like gloves and minibike are like socks - more of them wear on feet so have similiar function but going outside in only socks will be as unconfortable as wearing shoes inside

 

Or drones are like a sweater and minibike is like a jacket. In anything but deepest winter weather both are just too much. 😉