Ideas for Meaningful Game Development

[Meat Stick]

Spoiler alert!

 

SDTD (Seven Days to Die) has been around for 7 years and has had many improvements, but...

 

**Graphics**

 

Why does SDTD look like a game made in 1999?

 

The textures are as old as Unreal Tournament '99.

 

The models aren't much better.

 

Why is it when a game company decides to update a game, the first thing they do is tackle the smaller challenges, like cheap quests and cute weapon mods or skins? And the last being the graphics engine?

 

If you wanna stay relevant, graphics should be on the top of your list every year, period.

 

Sure mods, mini-quests, and cute skins are cheap and easy. But, it takes money and effort to make money. You get what you pay for. You get out what you put in.

 

 

**Enemy Types**

 

*Why are there only 7 enemy types?

 

Flying zombie birds

zombie dogs/wolves/hogs

crawlers

walkers

spitters

exploders

radioactive

 

Why not more than one flying type? Yes please!

 

Why are there no zombie fish? The water is almost a safe zone. Sure the zombies swim, but nothing spawns there.

 

Zombie horses that run super fast and kick you (insta-kill)?

 

Zombies that start out kinda weak or medium strength, but eat other defeated zombies and mutate-becoming much stronger?

 

Why are the zombies who eat dead players not becoming stronger?

 

The nurses should melt and become toxic waste that can be used in a liquid squirting weapon.

 

Fat, fire-breathing zombies would be nice.

 

Ax-wielding firefighting zombies that can smash a wall with one hit! Speaking of smashing a wall with one hit, there isn't a single enemy with nearly that much power, even at day 7000!

 

Zombie elephants or other animals that escape from a zoo?

In fact, a zoo would be cool! A whole group of exotic zombie animals would be unique to the zombie genre.

 

All of the police should have bullet proof vests. Head shots only! Wait what police? I haven't seen any....

 

Wheelchair-bound zombies that roll really fast, grab and hold on to the player, until other zombies can catch up.

 

Why is it that I blow off an arm or a leg, are they dying? Regardless of type, they should be falling over and then become a crawler (or simply become arm-less) in addition to what they were before...

 

And the exploders have a safety button? Are you kidding? NERF-alert!

 

 

There is a great video on You Tube with a guy from Europe who does the 7000th day. Literally!

After counting the number of different types, only five appeared.

 

Seven unique types total? This is 2020 not 1980. I can find more types in a five-dollar, indie 2D game!

 

I would rather see 20 different types and less weapon mods or crafting items.

 

Sure, I love the weapon mods and crafting items, but they make up for too much of the game.

 

The game is much more sandbox than survival horror. It feels 80% / 20%.

 

Sure, I love sandbox games, but they make up for too much of the market and most of them lack originality.

 

 

 

**Meaningful Content**

 

When I say meaningful, I don't mean mods, trader-driven quests, and cute skins.

 

There should be NPC's that need rescuing only to see them mutate into something horrifying right after you finish the quest.

 

Speaking of friendly NPC's, there are none, except for the traders.

 

There should be a lot more places like the Super Corn Farm with unspoken backstories and hidden...

Spoiler, sorry!

 

There should be a lot more evidence of things happening before and after the outbreak.

 

There should be a family who is trapped in a house and the player has to choose whether or not to save them. No quest, just a random find. Depending on how quickly he or she is at saving them an amount of the family survives. The player's actions could dictate who lives and who dies. Then depending on who or how many survive the player receives a friend that provides something.

 

There could be a science lab where @%$# went sideways. A super mutant breaks free after the player comes near it. No matter what the player does, the mutant is freed upon the world. Killing it is optional. The player gets to decide to go after it and kill it or let it live and hope it never wonders near his or her base.

 

There could be a building where something happens and it collapses or catches on fire with the player scrambling to get out.

 

I want a horror survival game that a) makes me jump out of my chair, b) makes me completely forget that I am just playing a game, c) makes my skin crawl, d) has such a powerful build up the hair on my neck stands up and e) gives me nightmares.

 

The quick jump scares that come from zombies spawning behind doors and in closets wears thin pretty quick.

 

 

**Difficulty**

 

Like many sand box survival games, in the beginning hunger and time are the real enemies. But once you get the lowest-level vehicles and a large enough food stash, the survival aspect is completely gone.

 

'Safe zone' traders with cheap quests and drops from a plane? Are you serious?

 

What kind of survival game is this?

 

Please Sir! Do NOT spoon-feed me more easy-peasy mac and cheesy!

 

I want a survival game that isn't designed for five-year old's and mentally-incompetent, lazy teenagers.

 

What is this? Super Mario or a survival horror game?

 

Choose one or the other. You can't do both, without the game becoming a joke.

[meganoth]

Once you list 100 changes you want for a single game you should realize THIS isn't the game for you.

 

[Meat Stick]

Hmm... let's see:

 

better graphics = 1

more enemies types  = 1

Meaningful Content = 1

more difficulty = 1

 

1+1+1+1 = 4

4 doesn't equal 100

 

If you can't count OR can't handle someone critiquing your favorite game maybe you SHOULDN'T be a mod.

[meganoth]

When you list it like that I can see it isn't all that big a list. So I'll take back my words.

 

But really, is my rather harmless comment already enough to make you feel harassed? Calm down, we tend to discuss in this forum and even mods can give their (sometimes wrong) opinion

 

-----

 

A comment to your first point: Everyone wants better graphics, like all cyberpunk players on the old consoles  😉. There are a few reasons for the graphics of 7D2D being much less than AAA:

 

1) It is a voxel game. Voxel games have a much higher demand for CPU and GPU power. For example a wall is always made out of 20 small textures instead of one big one. Look at other voxel games, most have mediocre graphics as well, AAA companies don't even touch voxels with 10 foot poles, maybe because they can't achieve the graphics they want in their games with voxels.

 

2) TFP is a small indie company, has made a novel game from ground up but is in its 7th year of production and they want to finally release the game eventually. They don't have the time to put most of their developer resources on graphics alone

 

3) The minimum specs for PCs able to handle the game were never updated by TFP and were set 7 years ago. Unless they change the minimum specs the base game will always need a lot of compromises.

 

 

Generally TFP seems to adopt the bethesda model: Make the game fit for low-end PCs and novice players. Give modders the tools to create versions for advanced players and better PCs. If you want higher difficulties and lots more zombies, you already get that with one of the current overhaul mods, I assume they will get really good after 7D2D gets out of EA.

 

 

[JasonX]

OP, go to NexusMods for a tonne of 7D2D mods that will probably meet a lot of your needs. If your PC can handle it, there are ways to greatly increase the number and types of zombies also.

Just on the mission mechanic, they are adding a variant where lights go out and you have to repair a generator.

 

If they implement some kind of LUA-driven scripting support, modders could make some insanely complex and compelling missions if POI objects were referenceable.