Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[Lennie]

I did a googling on the Hunger Games thingy, and this Brutus fellow tried to join with the bow lady, but she said no. (He was denied) Perhaps Spears and Bows are now in the same skill tree?

Hello everyone, btw. I usually lurk, but I can't resist a good puzzle.  

[Blake_]

57 minutes ago, Lennie said:

I did a googling on the Hunger Games thingy, and this Brutus fellow tried to join with the bow lady, but she said no. (He was denied) Perhaps Spears and Bows are now in the same skill tree?

Hello everyone, btw. I usually lurk, but I can't resist a good puzzle.  

 I can, but I'm starting to get itches on several parts of my so called brain, lol.

@Roland , you seem like a nice guy who gives strong, solid and specific clues. Like.... Brutus = Spear guy in The Hunger Games.

Can it be a weapon mod or perk that gives us the ability to autoretrieve Spears when thrown if it's X meters from the player?

 

Edit: BTW Lennie, welcome to the unlurked version of the forums! It's nice to suddendly meet you, fellow player.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Blake_ (see edit history)

[Syphon583]

2 hours ago, meganoth said:

 

Do you know what "irony" means?

 

That's like laundry lingo, right?

Edited October 14, 2022 by Syphon583 (see edit history)

[Games'n'Grumble]

23 hours ago, Roland said:

No one wants to talk about the details more than me but alas I cannot.

 

Maybe if someone could figure out what 7 Brutus Denied 5 means I could work up something new...

could this hint at changes in the user interface? 🙄

[Prydonian]

2 hours ago, meganoth said:

 

Do you know what "irony" means?

 

Must… not… correct definition…

[Roland]

Some good guesses and one very very very good solution by Uncle AI. My clue does reference a character in the Hunger Games and in particular something he did "in" the 75th Hunger Games and it does signify changes to a weapon we use in our game that he used in that game-- which Uncle AI pretty much hit squarely on the head. Needless to say, if you ever thought the spear was lackluster and wished it did a bit more damage plus a power thrust rather than a throwing attack you will be happy. 

 

 

If you only played the game because throwing the spear was one of the core elements of the game for you....I guess let's get #speargate started....

[Uncle Al]

1 hour ago, Roland said:

Some good guesses and one very very very good solution by Uncle AI. My clue does reference a character in the Hunger Games and in particular something he did "in" the 75th Hunger Games and it does signify changes to a weapon we use in our game that he used in that game-- which Uncle AI pretty much hit squarely on the head. Needless to say, if you ever thought the spear was lackluster and wished it did a bit more damage plus a power thrust rather than a throwing attack you will be happy. 

 

 

If you only played the game because throwing the spear was one of the core elements of the game for you....I guess let's get #speargate started....

Woot! Spear love!

 

I've always loved perception and it might finally be coming into its own soon. It always suffered weapon wise because spears were....spears and sniper rifles have rather limited utility when you're only fighting enemies who don't shoot back.  Spears sound to be getting a significant boost and for rifles, being able to outrange opponents might actually have some value once bandits make an appearance.

[Doomofman]

4 hours ago, Roland said:

Some good guesses and one very very very good solution by Uncle AI. My clue does reference a character in the Hunger Games and in particular something he did "in" the 75th Hunger Games and it does signify changes to a weapon we use in our game that he used in that game-- which Uncle AI pretty much hit squarely on the head. Needless to say, if you ever thought the spear was lackluster and wished it did a bit more damage plus a power thrust rather than a throwing attack you will be happy. 

 

 

If you only played the game because throwing the spear was one of the core elements of the game for you....I guess let's get #speargate started....

YESSSSSSSS.... UL did this and I love it

[RipClaw]

4 hours ago, Roland said:

If you only played the game because throwing the spear was one of the core elements of the game for you....I guess let's get #speargate started....

I have only seen two practical use cases for spear throwing so far. The first is to open zombie closets from a distance. The second was that you are standing on an elevated position and there is a bear below you and you throw the spear, retrieve it, throw it again and so on.

 

[Blake_]

4 hours ago, Roland said:

Some good guesses and one very very very good solution by Uncle AI. My clue does reference a character in the Hunger Games and in particular something he did "in" the 75th Hunger Games and it does signify changes to a weapon we use in our game that he used in that game-- which Uncle AI pretty much hit squarely on the head. Needless to say, if you ever thought the spear was lackluster and wished it did a bit more damage plus a power thrust rather than a throwing attack you will be happy. 

 

 

If you only played the game because throwing the spear was one of the core elements of the game for you....I guess let's get #speargate started....

Nice! So how does that power attack work on the spear? You hold the former "spear throw" with the RMB or did the devs standarized for all melee weapons it and put the spear throw on another button like the "holding LMB" ?

[Doomofman]

4 minutes ago, Blake_ said:

Nice! So how does that power attack work on the spear? You hold the former "spear throw" with the RMB or did the devs standarized for all melee weapons it and put the spear throw on another button like the "holding LMB" ?

 

I'm pretty sure they've just replaced the throw with a power attack and you can no longer throw spears, judging from the #speargate comment anyway

[Matt115]

9 hours ago, meganoth said:

 

Do you know what "irony" means?

 

Irony is like iron.... not everyone feel it 😜

[meganoth]

25 minutes ago, Matt115 said:

Irony is like iron.... not everyone feel it 😜

 

I'll cal you Ironeater Matt from now on

 

[Guest]

Sounds like it might function more like a Halberd

 

Maybe an AOE swing attack?

Edited October 14, 2022 by Pyrrhrick (see edit history)

[Doomofman]

6 minutes ago, Pyrrhrick said:

Sounds like it might function more like a Halberd

 

Maybe an AOE swing attack?

 

Oh god I hope not, I just want a more powerful thrust for the secondary attack

[Callum123456789]

Hopefully the spear isn't useless now lol I always felt throwing it which us were most of its damage comes from leaves you very vulnerable, not just that the main issue when I play with people and I've still had this issue myself where it would fall through the world.

Edited October 14, 2022 by Callum123456789 (see edit history)

[meganoth]

From the description it seems the change is just power attack instead of throw and a little more damage. Maybe a crit damage bonus for headshots or just a general increase of the base damage.

 

In that case the spear would be in effect a club where more range is traded for less stopping power. That is surely a good change because the throw just did not work out well, but also a bit sad that the spear is not different enough, does not allow new tactics. 

 

One idea I just had was that the spear (power?) attack could have had a swipe, a sideways push for a zombie. That would be useful standing in doors, as the zombie would have to get in front of the door again, or in horde nights where you could push zombies from small ledges. But that feature would have needed lots more animations work.

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by meganoth (see edit history)

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Doomofman said:

 

Oh god I hope not, I just want a more powerful thrust for the secondary attack

Fair one, although for me it'd just feel too similar to any other weapon in that case

 

Guess we'll have to see!

[Riamus]

As someone who likes using the spear, this is great news.  I hate when I accidentally threw the spear and had to run and get it or switch weapons quickly in the middle of a big fight.  I was always afraid of end up losing the spear of I couldn't pick it up quickly. Not sure if it only lasts for 60 seconds like loot bags.

 

I like the spear because I can almost always stay out of range while doing quick damage.  It isn't as powerful as some other melee weapons, but the reach and decent speed of it work very well. Sure, you can one shot with a sledgehammer, but I get so many dismembered heads in one shot with the spear that I don't feel like I'm missing much.  It is also probably the best melee for hitting vultures without being hit yourself.  My second favorite is the stun baton because I like zapping the zombies. 😁

[meilodasreh]

3 hours ago, meganoth said:

but also a bit sad that the spear is not different enough, does not allow new tactics

throwing away your weapon and then having a hard time to get it back was a bad tactics anyway, so I won't miss that.

 

...still a bit sad that it wasn't the zombie hippos though, but I guess I will get over it eventually.

[Riamus]

8 minutes ago, meilodasreh said:

 

...still a bit sad that it wasn't the zombie hippos though, but I guess I will get over it eventually.

Starts playing "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" while watching the Hungry Hungry Hippos attack.  😜

[Jost Amman]

4 hours ago, meganoth said:

In that case the spear would be in effect a club where more range is traded for less stopping power.

There's also the "armor piercing" bonus for the spear...

[Laz Man]

Lets not forget that players will be able to melee through holes in doors....Will leave that thought with you guys to theorycraft.  😎

[Roland]

7 hours ago, Doomofman said:

 

Oh god I hope not, I just want a more powerful thrust for the secondary attack

 

Its a more powerful thrust.

[faatal]

I ported the penetration code from ranged to melee, so in certain cases the spear can...