Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[Pineapple Killer]

Can't see there been a Teleporter. It makes no sense for the game. Where did the tech come from? I think Rick just meant to say Helipad, but had heliport in his head and said teleport instead. Fubars face was more of a " what is he talking about" to me, not a "you let that slip". Think the radio he did not click on was just that, a radio.

It's fun to speculate though I guess. A cooler feature would be to pay the trader X amount and you get to call a heli to take you to somewhere you have designated on the map. 

[meilodasreh]

Capp00 already found the correct term:

 

gyro crash pad

 

that's how it should be referred to, cause that's how it will serve,

for at least one or two alphas.

Edited April 14, 2023 by meilodasreh (see edit history)

[Riamus]

5 minutes ago, Pineapple Killer said:

Can't see there been a Teleporter. It makes no sense for the game. Where did the tech come from? I think Rick just meant to say Helipad, but had heliport in his head and said teleport instead. Fubars face was more of a " what is he talking about" to me, not a "you let that slip". Think the radio he did not click on was just that, a radio.

It's fun to speculate though I guess. A cooler feature would be to pay the trader X amount and you get to call a heli to take you to somewhere you have designated on the map. 

Well, Rick did say that there was something related to the helipad that would be coming in A22 and that would be discussed later right after that, so it does suggest that there is something there.  Considering it's a helipad and he called it a teleport, I have little doubt there will be fast travel, but I think it will be flavored as flying by helicopter and he just thinks of it as teleporting and so called it that by accident.

[DuHast_Play]

12 minutes ago, Pineapple Killer said:

Can't see there been a Teleporter. It makes no sense for the game. Where did the tech come from? I think Rick just meant to say Helipad, but had heliport in his head and said teleport instead. Fubars face was more of a " what is he talking about" to me, not a "you let that slip". Think the radio he did not click on was just that, a radio.

It's fun to speculate though I guess. A cooler feature would be to pay the trader X amount and you get to call a heli to take you to somewhere you have designated on the map. 

I think another nice feature of the radio would be to call a random drop from a helicopter. and the loot in the drop would depend on the merchant whose radio was activated. and that it was not associated with a drop from an airplane.

[Riamus]

1 hour ago, zztong said:

I had a question about how things like trash and bird nests disappear after they are looted. Do those things refresh and reappear, or are they gone forever?

 

I get that a cupboard block will change from closed (when it has an inventory) to open when it is empty. Do those also still refresh after so many days, or are they looted forever?

 

36 minutes ago, unholyjoe said:

the old feature setting is still in game and affects relootable containers (it does not reset chunk to bring back destroyed containers).

 

15 minutes ago, zztong said:

 

Ah, so I guess my original question is are nests and trash piles relootable containers?

 

If you loot a nest, grab the 4 feathers and 1 egg, and the nest disappears as shown in the first Dev Stream, when the Loot Respawn Time passes, does the nest reappear? Or, will the only method of regenerating the nest be the new Chunk Reload feature?

 

Oh, something that just occurred to me, in A20 if you destroyed a nest, you got more feathers. I guess that option is gone, right?

 

I like that things like trash and nests are destroyed when looted to make it easier to know what you've already looted, but if you are removing them from the weekly (by setting) loot respawn, then that isn't very good.  I mean, there are plenty of those types of "containers" for SP or a couple of players, but losing all loot except in questable POI is going to severely nerf loot for larger groups of people unless they are regularly traveling long distances.  Anything even remotely close to your base will be gone within a few days with no chance to reappear.  I think this need to still connect to the loot respawn setting and just recreate those containers.  It should not require the chunk reset option to be enabled.

[Mumpfy]

26 minutes ago, Pineapple Killer said:

Can't see there been a Teleporter. It makes no sense for the game. Where did the tech come from? I think Rick just meant to say Helipad, but had heliport in his head and said teleport instead. Fubars face was more of a " what is he talking about" to me, not a "you let that slip". Think the radio he did not click on was just that, a radio.

It's fun to speculate though I guess. A cooler feature would be to pay the trader X amount and you get to call a heli to take you to somewhere you have designated on the map. 

 

as i said... that could totally be the case and i could be way off.

[Mumpfy]

that said tho, rick said other stuff, i guess just joking around and fubar took the time to be clear about it and said stuff like... thats not true, dont believe him, he is just joking, etc... on the helipad thing he just went quiet about it.

 

and i just say that to keep the mistery alive until disproven. lol

[zztong]

19 minutes ago, Riamus said:

I like that things like trash and nests are destroyed when looted to make it easier to know what you've already looted, but if you are removing them from the weekly (by setting) loot respawn, then that isn't very good.  I mean, there are plenty of those types of "containers" for SP or a couple of players, but losing all loot except in questable POI is going to severely nerf loot for larger groups of people unless they are regularly traveling long distances.  Anything even remotely close to your base will be gone within a few days with no chance to reappear.  I think this need to still connect to the loot respawn setting and just recreate those containers.  It should not require the chunk reset option to be enabled.

 

I'm not ready to draw any conclusions; I'm sure A21 will be fun. But I was asking because if they are removed from Loot Respawn Time it certainly changes the "economics" of the situation in terms of the available supply of feathers/eggs from nests, and early game duct tape from trash to make early-game armor. In A20, on a server, you could find a shortage of feathers and rocks near spawn points, for instance, and no duct tape from trash. On single player all of those things would be plentiful.

[BFT2020]

13 hours ago, Ayrton said:

to add a water collection system that nobody asked for?

 

For those of us that thought water was nothing more than a trivial exercise, the changes are welcomed.  So yes, some of us were wanting changes to the water system to make it more aligned with survival aspects.

[Crypted]

I don't like that trash and nests are destroyed because I feel like the person should know what you searched and haven't searched, also lootable things should say empty if you looted it and took everything there, in my opinion. 

[BFT2020]

32 minutes ago, zztong said:

 

I'm not ready to draw any conclusions; I'm sure A21 will be fun. But I was asking because if they are removed from Loot Respawn Time it certainly changes the "economics" of the situation in terms of the available supply of feathers/eggs from nests, and early game duct tape from trash to make early-game armor. In A20, on a server, you could find a shortage of feathers and rocks near spawn points, for instance, and no duct tape from trash. On single player all of those things would be plentiful.

 

Maybe with the chunk reset option now, the loot respawn timer becomes moot?

[Morloc]

7 hours ago, Blake_ said:

Bandits: Well under way, including models, bandit-controlled POIs and random encounters. They are confirmed for a22...

 

We're finally here!

(There were some cutbacks)

 

 

 

-Arch Necromancer Morloc 💀

[MichaelL.]

2 hours ago, Laz Man said:

 

Nice catch.  Although there are definitely a ton of new assets and shapes for prefab creators to build with in A21, the intricate pipes/ropes/wires seen on top of trader rekts building is a custom asset specifically created for that roof.

 

Drats!  Got my hopes up there for a bit.  Thanks for the info!

[DanLW]

My most welcome addition was something I didn't know I needed... the recipe tracker.  No more forgetting that one special item!

 

I also really loved the checkpoint and lines of cars at gas stations.  Hopefully there are a lot more of these storytelling type scenes.  It really gave the vibe of a world in chaos right before everybody got infected rather than a town that just one day turned into zombies all of a sudden.  Very excellent additions!

 

One concern I have is the POI difficulty announcer.  I know I've found a few POIs that look tier 1 or 2 on the outside, but there are big hidden bunkers/labs/caves underneath.  I'd much rather loot a smallish house and be pleasantly surprised to find the entrance to a CIA black site or something rather than immediately see four skulls telling me "Hey, look here, there's something hidden, wink wink."  I would want an option to hide the threat meter... accidentally getting in over my head leads to some of the most intense (and FUN) moments in the game.  That and if I just see the 1 skull, I'll know I can just casually blaze through a POI without much worry.  The possibility of an unexpected mass of zombies should be a surprise.

 

Maybe link it to difficulty settings.  If players choose low difficulty, have the hand-holding meters on by default.  For higher difficulty, off by default with the option to turn it on.

 

Related is the XP popout.  A few alphas ago zombies were changed to get up after being "not quite dead".  But when the XP popout was added, it was easy to rest assured that the zombie you just turned your back on will not get back up.

[Fanatical_Meat]

1 hour ago, Morloc said:

 

We're finally here!

(There were some cutbacks)

 

 

 

-Arch Necromancer Morloc 💀

Good God, I hated that movie

[chaz916]

More textures(or an easy way to add them) and more clutter please.

 

[RipClaw]

22 minutes ago, DanLW said:

My most welcome addition was something I didn't know I needed... the recipe tracker.  No more forgetting that one special item!

This is one of the QoL features I have come to love in the Undead Legacy mod.

Some features I still miss in Vanilla are a search function in containers and that the workbenches can pull the needed materials directly from the crates.

 

[Cr0wst0rm]

Maybe another question directed to devs, are there any plays on cranking up the alpha on the water shader? Because I can image all sorts of issues with visibility when it comes to it. This timeframe for example: 

I know it may be complicated, because you use smooth transition for shores (alpha fades out)
Could this be maybe distorted by Screen space reflections and stronger normals?

Either way from the rest of the video it seems like the water is indeed in a very good shape. Can't wait for new GP features/usese (farming?) surrounding the water!

Edited April 14, 2023 by Cr0wst0rm (see edit history)

[zztong]

2 hours ago, BFT2020 said:

 

Maybe with the chunk reset option now, the loot respawn timer becomes moot?

 

Quite possibly, though am I wrong in thinking that frequently visited blocks won't refresh? That may be okay.

[Riamus]

1 hour ago, zztong said:

 

Quite possibly, though am I wrong in thinking that frequently visited blocks won't refresh? That may be okay.

Yeah, the chunks visited reset their timer from what they have said previously, which means all nearby stuff will probably never reset.  Besides, although the chunk reset has value, it isn't something I'll turn on in my games.  Too much chance I'll lose something I built or dug out due to forgetting to drop a bed or land claim near it.  It really doesn't offer me any value in my own games and instead has risk that I'm not interested in dealing with.

[vergilsparda]

5 hours ago, unholyjoe said:

[snipped for brevity]

 

Didnt get a chance to catch the stream and don't have time, but man the new main menu background looks great!! I'm going to miss the old one but any chance we can get the new one as a wallpaper in the future (either before or after A21 drops?).

[beerfly]

Also, the much shorter generation time of random maps is quite impressive. Props to everyone involved 🤘

[4sheetzngeegles]

I watched the dev twitch and liked basically what was said. My question is regarding rwg.
As Fubar flew around, there was an instance of a cabin, actually a few that were on elevated
terrain. Is this a hint, or indication of 3d elevation being incorporated? If so what is the
degree of the max angle, for the pathing? I ask because I make maps focused on differential
elevation and it would help to know for making compatible stamps.

 

Thanks    4Sheetz

 

TFP
PS: This is about one of the questions answered regarding removal of mechanics answered by Rick
and Mad Mole.  After all of the alpha variations, and, going toward gold. Will TFP possibly
reincorporate some of the BOTB mechanics from past to present, to make an ultra game?

[SnowDog1942]

1 hour ago, vergilsparda said:

 

Didnt get a chance to catch the stream and don't have time, but man the new main menu background looks great!! I'm going to miss the old one but any chance we can get the new one as a wallpaper in the future (either before or after A21 drops?).

This is in no way a dis,  but i find it fascinating how different people care about different things.  For every hundred  hours of game time we are in the menu for ??? 5 minutes of that time?  Whoop dee doo.  Lol

[Mumpfy]

even worst, some people freaks out about buttons that aint even something you can interact with. people is just weird. i know that for a fact.

Edited April 14, 2023 by Mumpfy (see edit history)