Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[RipClaw]

1 hour ago, Neminsis said:

More bells and whistles would be nice, but the Zs were deliberately dumbed down because players were complaining about how smart they were. If I'm not mistaken, you're more likely to get those really dumb Zs if your cpu is busy doing something else when it comes time to update their pathing. I see them a lot more when people are streaming or recording than I ever do when I've only got the game running alone.

AI are only perceived stupid or perceived intelligent. In fact AI are much simpler than we think.

 

For example, in the development of the first Halo, Microsoft set up two different ones for a test game. The AI was exactly the same but in one version the enemies had more HP and dealt more damage than in the other. The test players considered the AI in this version to be more intelligent.

 

[RipClaw]

35 minutes ago, Janarah said:

Hell, half the time in vanilla the zeds are more interested in a tree and beating on it than they are me. . .not sure why that was ever done.

If I had the choice between a heavily armed opponent and a tree, I would also choose the tree. 😁

[Neminsis]

27 minutes ago, RipClaw said:

AI are only perceived stupid or perceived intelligent. In fact AI are much simpler than we think.

 

Agreed, but in this case a deliberate choice was made to occasionally reduce the accuracy of the Zs pathing to the player.

[Zombiepoptard]

19 hours ago, Games'n'Grumble said:

@schwanz9000 perhaps you can answer? Are there plans to add new textures for coloring? Or replacing some old textures? For example, this one (in the screenshot) I can't imagine in ordinary POIs, except for some... specific. Because it is too... what should I call it... too expressive. If a farmer, a football player and several other zombies were removed from the game because they could be too rare in the world, according to this logic, and such a texture should be replaced with something? Maybe add more wallpaper for living spaces? (please) You can also consider some other textures (for example, 3 types of awning). What do you think?🙏

Your problem is with that wallpaper but not the concrete texture right next to it being used to represent dry wall?

[JCrook1028]

18 hours ago, Syphon583 said:

I'm convinced that the only reason hotels choose hideous carpet patterns is to hide dirt and spills so they don't have to clean/replace the carpet as often.

Ding ding ding ding we have a winner!

48 minutes ago, Zombiepoptard said:

Your problem is with that wallpaper but not the concrete texture right next to it being used to represent dry wall?

Could be paint chipped off concrete wall, or drywall, or plaster.... The ceiling? Now that IS concrete! But That's common in Condo/Hotel buildings. Sometimes even in single family residential built in hurricane prone areas they use prestressed concrete slabs in construction. Expensive but nice if you can afford it.

[Melange]

30 minutes ago, Zombiepoptard said:

Your problem is with that wallpaper but not the concrete texture right next to it being used to represent dry wall?

To be fair, @Games'n'Grumble did say "For example" referencing the red patterned wallpaper, and he didn't say he actually liked the blue texture on the other wall.  I don't care for either texture, and don't ever use them in my builds.

 

@schwanz9000 says we'll get other textures later, but not just yet. Kind of low on the prioriy list, But when they do roll out (or roll on) the new options I hope they won't be as weathered and stained as some of the current ones. 

[zztong]

4 hours ago, Janarah said:

So far as rads go, Chernobyl is a good example to look at, five or so years isn't going to do much for radioactive decay, but that's a rather moot point when I am pretty sure radiation isn't even a real threat in vanilla so far as I've noticed.

 

Yes, I'm no radiation-safety expert, but a failed nuclear power plant seems to present a significant continuing threat, where as with the nuclear weapons there are a number of factors at play (altitude, payload), and the radioactivity/fallout seems to fall off (decay) significantly over 15-30 days. If the game world is only to represent nuclear weapons, I think the effects of radiation on our characters would probably mean an increased chance of cancer in later life. Around Day 10,000 perhaps a debuff?  Or make it more aggressive. That's an "end game" folks probably weren't expecting.

 

We do have irradiated zombies with special abilities. I don't think that implies they are radioactive, just that past events have made them glow, etc.

Edited August 5, 2022 by zztong (see edit history)

[Neminsis]

5 hours ago, Janarah said:

So far as rads go, Chernobyl is a good example to look at, five or so years isn't going to do much for radioactive decay,

Chernobyl is a great example of how radioactive particles settle into the soil and the most dangerous materials decay quickly as the area is regularly travelled through but you're warned not to dig or kick up dust.
 

5 hours ago, Janarah said:

I can understand mutations, like on the behemoths for example, having denser bones and possible thickened skin and what not

So, your actual issue is that the Zs don't look like they should be able to break the blocks, if they all looked like the behemoth, you'd be fine with it?
 

5 hours ago, Janarah said:

But it should be doable.

Well yeah, they could have artists do all sorts of special blocks that could be sat around like cooking pots, but then those artists would need to be paid, and every one of them is going to come with a performance cost.
 

6 hours ago, Janarah said:

I have noticed the game has greatly improved on voxel loading, and I personally have no issues driving at full speed across the map

One of the things they did that helped with that was reducing the number of voxels in the world. There are approximately 16 billion voxels in the world, most of them being non interactable air blocks, and that's after reducing the depth of the ground. Every interactable item in the game comes with a performance cost.
 

6 hours ago, Janarah said:

So far as traps, yeah, they are kind of just nice bells and whistles, but a variety allows people to make up their defenses in unique and different ways.

I get it, more graphical variation, everyone wants more, and there can never be enough, but we're back to paying the artists and every interactable thing coming with a performance cost. They're not going to prioritize too many bells and whistles until after the game goes gold.
 

6 hours ago, Janarah said:

There are of course the dart traps, but so far as I can tell they aren't terribly effective

They're more effective when combined with electric fences and more ammo efficient when set on a trigger.
 

6 hours ago, Janarah said:

Or a floor trap which launches zeds away from the base

Pretty much exactly what the sledgehammer turret already does.
 

6 hours ago, Janarah said:

wouldn't mind seeing a host of new zeds

There are mods out there that do just this, and again, I don't expect much expansion of the bells and whistles in vanilla until after the game goes gold. They have too many issues to solve before then.

[Games'n'Grumble]

5 hours ago, Zombiepoptard said:

Your problem is with that wallpaper but not the concrete texture right next to it being used to represent dry wall?

I have no problem with textures, I'm just asking for more of them😉

[Star69]

Gosh, you guys have it all figured out on how to ‘fix’ this game. Please make a mod with all those suggestions since it’s just a little c#, some Unity assets and some art. Should be a piece of cake, right? Very easy stuff. ( /s for those who need it said).

[Rabbitslovecactus]

11 hours ago, meganoth said:

 

Ever wonder where the gas cans go after you filled up your motorbike ? The same place. 

 

 

Ok I see, so it works the same way as gas cans. Understood. Thanks

[Roland]

54 minutes ago, Rabbitslovecactus said:

Ok I see, so it works the same way as gas cans. Understood. Thanks

gas cans, stew bowls, acid containers, food cans, meal plates, drug syringes, candy wrappers, repair kit cases and med kit boxes.  
 

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by Roland (see edit history)

[Laz Man]

5 minutes ago, Roland said:

gas cans, stew bowls, acid containers, food cans, meal plates, drug syringes, candy wrappers, and med kit boxes.  
 

 

 

I think some folks are still recovering from the removal of clay bowls...😅

[unholyjoe]

9 minutes ago, Laz Man said:

 

I think some folks are still recovering from the removal of clay bowls...😅

actually some havent gotten over the removal of the clay molds we had to make every time we crafted on the forge.

[Spiral]

Any client performance improvements this patch the fps is actually just getting worse every patch

[KhaineGB]

Probably a Kin question...

Any way to get Biome Restrictions working in RWG yet? I know the AllowedBiomes property doesn't work and will likely be phased out as it's old code, but snooping in the DLL, there should have been a way to limit either tiles or POI's by biome, but they don't seem to work properly.

So i'm HOPING that's on the cards for an A21 fix as I kinda rely on that for progression

[Jost Amman]

4 hours ago, Spiral said:

Any client performance improvements this patch the fps is actually just getting worse every patch

Have a look at this post on Steam by Mordain69, it's very thorough: 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/251570/discussions/1/3190241086281294394/

[meganoth]

3 hours ago, Jost Amman said:

Have a look at this post on Steam by Mordain69, it's very thorough: 

https://steamcommunity.com/app/251570/discussions/1/3190241086281294394/

 

Yes, a good source of hints.

What I don't agree with is that he says to turn off occlusion. In my experience that can help or worsen your situation depending on a lot of things. You simply have to try out what works best for you. In my case for example occlusion on is much better than off

 

[schwanz9000]

NO! Never turn off Occlusion. That option needs to be removed. Turning that off will keep more things loaded making it worse. How this became a recommended thing is beyond me. 

8 hours ago, Spiral said:

Any client performance improvements this patch the fps is actually just getting worse every patch

Yes! The team is constantly looking at things under the hood to improve performance. As said by several devs, you need to know that there is not one simple thing that will be the magic button to better performance/FPS. It will be a ton of tiny little things from here to Gold to optimize.

[schwanz9000]

8 hours ago, KhaineGB said:

Any way to get Biome Restrictions working in RWG yet?

@Kinyajuu could surprise us all, but I'm not sure if it will make it into A21. There are plans to have biome specific tiles and POI's at some point.

[Victor.19]

Some questions I have that I believe the staff also want to know:

 

1- Do we have hit indicators on the shots?

2- can you remove the default crosshair when using the iron crosshairs of the weapons?

3- Plans to upgrade vehicles to a design that more matches the game?

4- Radioactive zones in the game have been ruled out or will we have something similar in the future?

5-  Will armor modifications be visible as in weapons?

6-  Will Trader Jen have an updated model?

7- Will animals be updated? (I believe so)

8- Will we have any more tower defense elements?  More traps and turrets would be welcome.

9- Have zombies ever been ideas for the game?

 

Thanks for the answers

[schwanz9000]

17 minutes ago, Victor.19 said:

1- Do we have hit indicators on the shots? No changes for A21

2- Can you remove the default crosshair when using the iron crosshairs of the weapons? No changes for A21

3- Plans to upgrade vehicles to a design that more matches the game? No changes for A21

4- Radioactive zones in the game have been ruled out or will we have something similar in the future? No changes for A21

5- Will armor modifications be visible as in weapons? No

6- Will Trader Jen have an updated model? No changes for A21

7- Will animals be updated? (I believe so) No changes for A21

8- Will we have any more tower defense elements?  More traps and turrets would be welcome. No changes for A21

9- Have zombies ever been ideas for the game? Like NEW zombie types? I think we're done with Zombies at this point.

 

 

[KhaineGB]

3 hours ago, schwanz9000 said:

@Kinyajuu could surprise us all, but I'm not sure if it will make it into A21. There are plans to have biome specific tiles and POI's at some point.

I am going to keep my fingers crossed for that. Kinda need it for DF

[POCKET951]

So in the alpha 20 dev streams you guys showed off the new dismemberment system for 1 or 2 zombies and mentioned that it was a work in progress over time, how many zombie models have had there dismemberment animations completed at this point roughly? will we see more of this in the A21 dev streams?

[maxousara]

Alpha 21 is the last alpha or an alpha 22 will born after alpha 21 ??