Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[Uncle Al]

4 hours ago, Roland said:

 

 

These sorts of details are best left to discovering when it is released to experimental as it is still in a state of flux. The weighting feels different now than it did when I first described it and it will probably change again before you get it. The general idea is that you won't be stuck unable to find what you've perked into and thus feeling like it was a waste of points to perk into what you did. It also means you don't have to wait to spend points until you've amassed a bunch of magazines to see which you have the most of and then do that. But as for the exact formula, you will have to wait until you taste the secret sauce before you get its recipe.

 

I see what you're saying, and to clarify: I wasn't looking for the exact formula, just the concept.

 

Basically 'does a perked character loot slightly fewer magazines, on average, of the things they're not perked into, or do they loot the same average haul of their unperked subjects while also picking up a few extra magazines of the things they are perked into?'

 

The repeated concern that some folks keep throwing out is that the new system will negatively impact co-op games if there are stay home characters on the team, and/or the team uses dedicated looters. If the weighting is a straight bonus that's not a concern. If it's a shift in weighting but doesn't add any more magazines for the same quantity of looting, it potentially is.

 

As you rightly say, if the weighting impact isn't drastic, then even the 'reduce the things you don't have perks for' approach isn't the co-op play apocalypse that some Steam posters assume, but those concerns can't be dismissed out of hand. If the perk weighting is a straight up bonus, they can.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Uncle Al (see edit history)

[danielspoa]

talking about water, is there a possibility to show us a bit of it? for an example if there's an animation of it flowing to a neighbor block, or an interaction like dropping water / getting it into a bucket

 

thanks 😁

[Roland]

9 hours ago, Uncle Al said:

I see what you're saying, and to clarify: I wasn't looking for the exact formula, just the concept.

 

Basically 'does a perked character loot slightly fewer magazines, on average, of the things they're not perked into, or do they loot the same average haul of their unperked subjects while also picking up a few extra magazines of the things they are perked into?'

 

The repeated concern that some folks keep throwing out is that the new system will negatively impact co-op games if there are stay home characters on the team, and/or the team uses dedicated looters. If the weighting is a straight bonus that's not a concern. If it's a shift in weighting but doesn't add any more magazines for the same quantity of looting, it potentially is.

 

As you rightly say, if the weighting impact isn't drastic, then even the 'reduce the things you don't have perks for' approach isn't the co-op play apocalypse that some Steam posters assume, but those concerns can't be dismissed out of hand. If the perk weighting is a straight up bonus, they can.

 

It's imperceptible to me. In my last run by day 13 I had found and read more spear magazines than I had archery magazines even though I was perked into bows. Was it annoying that I could craft a better spear than bow? A bit but the key is that I was still progressing in bows and never could point to a period of time where I just could not find ANY archery magazines. I definitely didn't feel like I was getting less of everything else. 

[RipClaw]

3 hours ago, Roland said:

 

It's imperceptible to me. In my last run by day 13 I had found and read more spear magazines than I had archery magazines even though I was perked into bows. Was it annoying that I could craft a better spear than bow? A bit but the key is that I was still progressing in bows and never could point to a period of time where I just could not find ANY archery magazines. I definitely didn't feel like I was getting less of everything else. 

How many magazines do you find per day, roughly?

[unholyjoe]

4 hours ago, RipClaw said:

How many magazines do you find per day, roughly?

that of course depends on how much exploring and looting a player does. everyone has their own style and speed.

 

i have had days where is have read more than 20 mags and there has been days when maybe less than a doz.

 

my normal play style is nomad where i dont waste time with building and such just looting and moving about.. but i have been messing with some base type testings so i am not looting as much that way.

 

but bottom line i would say you get out of it what you put into it. (if you dont @%$# off RNG)

 

Edited August 17, 2022 by unholyjoe (see edit history)

[Roland]

8 hours ago, RipClaw said:

How many magazines do you find per day, roughly?

 

If you are exploring a lot of POI's then as Dr Pepper Smurf said 20 - 30 easily. In my current world there is a city with two Crack-a-books right across the street from each other. That day was epic. But then if you are mixing in mining, and building in with scavenging and then prep day for blood moon and repair day after blood moon and then you will be finding and reading fewer.

Edited August 17, 2022 by Roland (see edit history)

[Diragor]

20 hours ago, danielspoa said:

talking about water, is there a possibility to show us a bit of it? for an example if there's an animation of it flowing to a neighbor block, or an interaction like dropping water / getting it into a bucket

 

thanks 😁

I would absolutely Love to see something water related @faatal can you show it to us 😮

[RipClaw]

4 hours ago, Roland said:

If you are exploring a lot of POI's then as Dr Pepper Smurf said 20 - 30 easily. In my current world there is a city with two Crack-a-books right across the street from each other. That day was epic. But then if you are mixing in mining, and building in with scavenging and then prep day for blood moon and repair day after blood moon and then you will be finding and reading fewer.

Thanks for the information. I was just curious to roughly estimate how I should best manage my time so that my progress roughly matches the progress in A20.

[Marshin4512]

Will more lore be revealed in the later updates? I've figured a bit but I'm not sure about it and would love to learn more especially about the duke or Noah.

 

I'll put my theory here:

 

 

Spoiler

My theory was that the zombie apocalypse happened since a nuclear explosion happened. How I know this? Because I saw it on a newspaper in the game. At the edge of the map there is a nuclear fallout zone which is full of radiation which kills you. Also there is a wasteland which I assume the radiation died out since it is a wasteland but safe. It is home to massive hordes of zombies and has the largest amount of zombies in a biome in the game. There are also radiated zombies, police zombies, mutated zombies, demolishers and more. Since a lot of zombies are found there that means that the cause of the zombies is unusual radiation which turned humans into zombies. But now the radiation has died out and it is safe to go there. The nuclear fallout zone which has a lot of radiation that can kill you quick (reminder: Is at the edge of the map) is the parts where the radiation has spread and is impossible to go there. Also I did some research and apparently the game is set after a 3rd world war The area which you are in which I think is Arizona is one of the only places that is not affected by the radiation and is safe. In the note the mayor of white river settlement says that you barely made it here and when you came here you were almost dead so you possibly escaped from the radiation zone into a safe area but you almost died on the way and the mayor guy saved you.

 The Duke or Noah is apparently a unplanned boss fight. Apparently he controls an army of mutated soldiers. Noah also says that you have to pay him and that the gear he took from you was not enough. If he can control zombies maybe he is the one sending zombies to you on horde night since you aren't paying him? In Trader Jen's dialogue mentions that she/he has to pay protection payment to the duke. Is this because he controls the zombies and commands them not to attack the traders if the trader pays him. Also he is the mayor of white river settlement. The currency which is duke casino token has his face on it and has the word duke. Could he have something to do with the zombie outbreak?

My theory

 

[Games'n'Grumble]

Hello, @Roland! Do you have any information about traders in A21? How will they appear? For now traders can repeat themselves on large maps, but not all 5 traders can appear on small maps. Will there be a strict rule in A21 or the next versions that there will always be only 5 different traders in the world?

[Falcon197]

On 7/31/2022 at 10:55 AM, Falcon197 said:

A modest request for A21:

 

Can the cm or dm console command be enhanced to permit the user to freely toggle or edit light blocks?

 

There's currently a helpful mod that alters one or two lines of code in the BlockLight .dll to enable this.  It would be extremely helpful having it as feature going forward.  Here's the code in question:

 

 

With every alpha or hotfix release, the mod breaks as the code changes.  The ability to edit lights during gameplay is helpful for creative base building activities, with placing functional lights in custom POIs that don't require power sources.  Thus having it be a vanilla feature would be super useful.

 

Thanks for all you do, devs. 

 

Reposting the above as I think it got lost in the earlier discussion.  Can any devs speak to the feasibility of having this change made to the base game code?

[Roland]

14 hours ago, Games'n'Grumble said:

Hello, @Roland! Do you have any information about traders in A21? How will they appear? For now traders can repeat themselves on large maps, but not all 5 traders can appear on small maps. Will there be a strict rule in A21 or the next versions that there will always be only 5 different traders in the world?

 

I don't know about that. There have been some changes to traders that I can't share. Some of it factors into other things we've already discussed. But I can't promise that there are no clone traders in A21 guaranteed because I don't know. Sorry.

 

11 hours ago, Falcon197 said:

 

Reposting the above as I think it got lost in the earlier discussion.  Can any devs speak to the feasibility of having this change made to the base game code?

 

@schwanz9000 Is there anything you can say about this?

Edited August 19, 2022 by Roland (see edit history)

[BlackCatTheGreat]

Whats with this crusty water change??? What prompted this?

[Roland]

7 minutes ago, BlackCatTheGreat said:

Whats with this crusty water change??? What prompted this?

 

The game being in development.

[Kosmic Kerman]

5 minutes ago, BlackCatTheGreat said:

Whats with this crusty water change??? What prompted this?

 

If you are referring to drinkable water, it's too easy to acquire. Their stated goal is to make player thirst more of an issue, at least in the early game.

[RipClaw]

3 hours ago, Kosmic Kerman said:

If you are referring to drinkable water, it's too easy to acquire. Their stated goal is to make player thirst more of an issue, at least in the early game.

As far as I know, the goal is not so much to make the player thirstier, but to get them to drink murky water when they need to. When you find a pond or a trench with water you can drink as much as you want. However, the water is murky and you have a 20% chance of getting dysentery. In addition, you lose HP.

 

[Jost Amman]

3 hours ago, Kosmic Kerman said:

If you are referring to drinkable water, it's too easy to acquire. Their stated goal is to make player thirst more of an issue, at least in the early game.

Who need water when you have beer? 

[Prydonian]

On 8/6/2022 at 10:07 AM, Victor.19 said:

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

 

6-  Will Trader Jen have an updated model?

What's wrong with Jen's model?

Edited August 20, 2022 by Prydonian (see edit history)

[Prydonian]

I'm hesitant to post a list of stuff I’d like to see in the game, but it looks like it's not considered rude, so I'm gonna risk it.  I'm guessing there are going to be many more construction items added to the game before it's complete, but I would like to humbly request something, O Pimps:

 

More Fancy Stuff. 

I build creepy Victorian and gothic bases, and I would love to see more items I can add to my pointlessly elaborate buildings.  Antique couches, grandfather clocks, end tables with oil lamps, candelabra, heavy curtains, balloon chairs, more colors of shutters, that kind of thing.  Maybe some cobwebs.  More than anything, I wish there were a dark wood texture other than the crown molding, as the ridges make it a little weird to apply to walls and floors.  I beg you for mahogany.  Ooo, and are you maybe going to update the deco on the lamps that can be accessed in creative mode?  I love that I can change the light color and make ‘em flicker, but the model stubbornly continues to look like it has a white bulb in it.  These things I beseech. 

I feel like I’m being a little entitled right now, lol.  Apologies. 

#mahogany

Edited August 20, 2022 by Prydonian (see edit history)

[Cr0wst0rm]

Just sent TFP my resume, hopefully i get a response today? Idk which side of planet they are on but i hoped they would answer this night since i live in EU.  But god i would love to put in some work if possible :DDD

[Jost Amman]

3 hours ago, Prydonian said:

I've never posted this sort of thing before, but it looks like it's not considered rude, so I'm gonna risk it.  I'm guessing there are going to be a great deal more construction objects added to the game before it's complete, but I would like to humbly request something, O Pimps:

 

More Fancy Stuff. 

I love building Victorian and gothic bases, and I would love to see more items I can add to my pointlessly elaborate buildings.  Antique couches, grandfather clocks, end tables with gas lamps, candelabra, nice wooden chairs, heavy curtains, balloon chairs, more colors of shutters, that kind of thing.  More than anything, I wish there were a dark wood texture other than the crown molding, the striations of which make it a little weird to apply to walls and floors.  I beg you for mahogany.  Ooo, and are you perhaps going to update the models for the lamps that can be accessed in creative mode?  I love that I can change the color and make them flicker, but the model stubbornly continues to look like it has a white bulb in it.  These things I beseech. 

I feel like I'm acting terribly entitled right now.  Apologies. 

#mahogany

That sounds like the stuff you'd put in a "Decorator DLC"! 

 

2 hours ago, Cr0wst0rm said:

Just sent TFP my resume, hopefully i get a response today? Idk which side of planet they are on but i hoped they would answer this night since i live in EU.  But god i would love to put in some work if possible :DDD

If they hire you, you'll be our "inside man"... create an alt-account and spill the beans, man! 

Edited August 20, 2022 by Jost Amman (see edit history)

[Prydonian]

2 hours ago, Jost Amman said:

That sounds like the stuff you'd put in a "Decorator DLC"! 

I would absolutely buy that.  Can’t make a haunted house without a grandfather clock.  

Edited August 20, 2022 by Prydonian (see edit history)

[zztong]

8 hours ago, Prydonian said:

I'm hesitant to post a list of stuff I’d like to see in the game, but it looks like it's not considered rude, so I'm gonna risk it.

 

I don't know that it would be considered rude. I think the risk is greater that it might get overlooked or lost in the shuffle since the Dev Diary moves quickly. If you made the suggestion in the "Pimp Dreams" forum it could have its own subject and thread.

[meganoth]

7 hours ago, Cr0wst0rm said:

Just sent TFP my resume, hopefully i get a response today? Idk which side of planet they are on but i hoped they would answer this night since i live in EU.  But god i would love to put in some work if possible :DDD

 

I would guess if they had answered you that fast you surely would not have liked the answer. 😉

 

[Adam the Waster]

On 7/29/2022 at 6:25 PM, unholyjoe said:

much simpler

ooooh looks great. at least i don't need to level my person just to learn how to grill a Rattlesnake,

any other goodies you can show?

On 8/18/2022 at 11:20 PM, Kosmic Kerman said:

 

If you are referring to drinkable water, it's too easy to acquire. Their stated goal is to make player thirst more of an issue, at least in the early game.

or make water more Risky, 

i remember when you had to find a pot to boil water. good times.... good times