Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[Thaledwyn]

Could we get an option in the extended map generation menu to NOT show the preview? (maybe Preview: None, Lowest, Low, etc....)

So we could just create a new world with special biome settings etc. without knowing what's coming / how the map is looking?

 

At the moment I place an Explorer window in front of the map preview until it is generated so I will not get spoilered 🙂

[unholyjoe]

4 minutes ago, Thaledwyn said:

Could we get an option in the extended map generation menu to NOT show the preview? (maybe Preview: None, Lowest, Low, etc....)

So we could just create a new world with special biome settings etc. without knowing what's coming / how the map is looking?

 

At the moment I place an Explorer window in front of the map preview until it is generated so I will not get spoilered 🙂

you mean like this?

 

 

[Fanatical_Meat]

Gotta admit I miss the rebar frames, the super old school frames that required the cement to dry and required manually adding cement.

 

[Pichun1]

4 hours ago, Burrfly said:

No hate, but these are just parts of a lot of reviews I found of players who have the same concerns as me. I maybe will get hate due to this, heck, I may even get banned.

(Each seperate image is from a seperate review)

 

I have been playing the game since A04. I love each alpha and played them for several hours. I always respect and appreciate the changes made because I know only The Fun Pimps see the whole picture. I understand that some people see each alpha as the final version and make comments and critiques about it (this is one of the reasons they take their time polishing each version), but we have to wait until the final product is complete.

We can give feedback (as requested) and trust TFP. If the Gold version has issues, I trust they will listen to the community and fix them (as they always do IMO).

 

I know I'm not saying much but I wanted to leave a positive comment here

Edited May 14, 2023 by Pichun1 (see edit history)

[zzzzzz1002003]

1 hour ago, Fanatical_Meat said:

Gotta admit I miss the rebar frames, the super old school frames that required the cement to dry and required manually adding cement.

 

i as well made me feel like a builder and added a idk time crunch when doing a base/repairing one.

[SnowDog1942]

4 hours ago, Laz Man said:

Edit: I would like to add that anyone who has been on these forums long enough knows that the forum moderation team here is very fair.  The only time I would see a poster get moderated and/or banned is when they couldn't accept when other forum members not agreeing with their opinions and then would start to break forum rules left and right...

 

Not true.  Roland yelled at me one time for saying there should be naked bandits that look like Burt Reynolds, with lots of chest hair.   Long long time ago, but I remember  .   Maybe back in A16 days.

Edited May 14, 2023 by SnowDog1942 (see edit history)

[HB_H4wk]

@Laz Man We just finished our 1st Wasteland Weekend event on the server and I must say the debris /zombie infested streets were loved by all. I would like to know why the Tree Plains Tree never seems to be used? I broke up sections of the asphalt on the roadways and replaced them with Burn Forest Ground and placed them here and there to hide things. I think it improved the challenge of getting anywhere on the map inside city limits or on the way to a quest location.

[Gamida]

2 hours ago, unholyjoe said:

you mean like this?

 

 

 

I am more curious now about why you had to blur the alpha number

 

[DocRussel]

21 minutes ago, Gamida said:

 

I am more curious now about why you had to blur the alpha number

 

Well, it is A21 which is not out yet.

[beerfly]

1 hour ago, Gamida said:

 

I am more curious now about why you had to blur the alpha number

 

Joe 1 : 0 Gamida 

[Riamus]

7 hours ago, Burrfly said:

No hate, but these are just parts of a lot of reviews I found of players who have the same concerns as me. I maybe will get hate due to this, heck, I may even get banned.

(Each seperate image is from a seperate review)

 

5 hours ago, Burrfly said:

Yes, the user reviews are still very positive, but the newer reviews do include players that have not known this game as it was earlier. So, if I were to play 7 days to die knowing only 4 building materials, I wouldn't notice and I would give a positive review. It is however a difference if people were used to the 11 building materials (including different levels) which now have been reduced to 4. And again, not to hate, but comparitively speaking, jan2022-jan2023 has more negative reviews than jan2020-dec2021 (somewhere ~jan2022 alpha 20 released).

 

Sure, you can find negative reviews.  You can with any game.  The vast majority are positive and that's what is important.  Negative reviews for a game that is enjoyed by most players are typically either a) the player doesn't really like that type of game, or b) the player doesn't like a specific feature or features and/or doesn't like the implementation of a specific feature or features.  You can see such reviews in your example.  Such reviews are generally unimportant.  You can't please everyone and shouldn't try to do so.  If the vast majority enjoy the game, that's what it important.  A small percentage of negative reviews doesn't matter.  If the percentage is high, that is when you need to be concerned about them.

 

This game is not in its final form and has been available for play for around 10 years now.  Things are going to change.  Some players like a specific feature even if the majority don't like it.  When that feature gets changed, those players will be upset.  That's just how it goes.  By playing the game now rather than waiting until gold, you are accepting that the game *will* change.  You can't really complain that it's changing because it's a known fact that it will change.  If that bothers you, you shouldn't be playing it before it goes gold.

 

Even comparing certain time frames isn't really a valid comparison.  Different things determine how reviews will be at any given time.  As long as the vast majority of reviews remain positive, that's what is important.  You also have to keep in mind that few people who write reviews will edit the review at a later time.  If people write a review before a new release or directly after the release and their assumption of some change is negative, they'll write a negative review and then it'll stay there even if they later realize that they like the change.  The same is true, of course, for positive reviews made in the middle of an alpha with no changes in the air.  However, people who decide later that they don't like a game are far more likely to change their review than those who initially wrote a negative review, so that will also cause inaccuracy in the reviews and is another reason you care about the overall reviews and not the relatively few negative reviews you hand-picked.

 

And it doesn't really matter if most reviews tend to be newer players who haven't played earlier alphas.  In the end, they don't care about earlier alphas and so their reviews are just as valid.  After all, it's not really any different from someone buying the gold version of a game that wasn't in early access.  They don't know how the game changed during development and it really doesn't matter to them.  All they care about is how the game is now.  Will they be upset with some changes between now and gold?  Maybe, maybe not.  Either way, the reviews that will really matter in the end are those made after gold.  And I expect those will be mostly positive.

 

The simple fact that this game has some of the highest hours played per person of any non-MMO game just goes to show that this is a very good game, regardless of anyone's opinions about any changes each alpha.  Trying to drum up negativity by hand-picking negative reviews and posting them here is really just a waste of time.  Your negativity about the game's path isn't going to change the path of the game any.  And what you or any other person wants the game to be like isn't going to be the same as what others want the game to be like.  Some like hardcore challenges, some like just regular challenge, some like it to be easy.  Some like to build bases, some like to do quests and loot, some like to kill zombies, some like it all.  Anything you do that pushes the game more towards one group than another will make one group happier and the other group unhappier.  That's just how it is.  In the end, you either like the game and play it or you do not.  The choice is yours.

 

Btw, that review about time to generate a map shows that some reviews just really aren't much use (negative or positive). Considering map generation takes 10-15 minutes or so, even on a slower computer in A20, the person either is extremely impatient or is reviewing an older version of the game (or it wasn't updated in 2022 and that's from back in 2015 when they originally wrote the review).  In A21, it'll be significantly faster.  But even the current speed is far from slow, considering all that it has to do.  If that feels like "55000 years" to someone, then they need to learn patience.  And considering many people make maps with third party map generators that can take far longer to generate a map, it's really not that valid of a review.

[Aldranon]

Active players have dipped recently, some people are probably waiting to start an A21 game (that's what I'm doing this month).  

But the active player numbers always skyrocket up on each new update, this update looks to add some very interesting new dimensions to the game.

 

A big game changer to A21 is the "fast travel" helicopters.   More missions can be accomplished quicker, and the trader restock days could be a very big deal.

If they cost something (which they should) then the player has to weigh the pros and cons to fast travel.

 

(Waiting for the first tier 5 infested POI night quest! What streamer will be the first to show one?  And can they survive?? :)) 

 

[XFinalChanceX]

It's May 14 2023 you said MAY 2023. I bet its going to be done on  MAY 31.

[Aldranon]

Just now, XFinalChanceX said:

It's May 14 2023 you said MAY 2023. I bet its going to be done on  MAY 31.

 

The big holidays are behind us so it could be any of the next two weekends IMO.   (Players getting it on the 22nd or the 29th).

The 22nd is the smartest day as there is a big religious holiday on the 28th and that could be a problem.

 

In the next few days, we will see how smart TFP are and by the end of the month how good to their words they are.

 

[Roland]

6 minutes ago, Aldranon said:

In the next few days, we will see how smart TFP are and by the end of the month how good to their words they are.

 

Even if it doesn't come out in May their word is still good since they stated quite clearly from the beginning that May was an estimate and a hope and that would happen as long as nothing caused a delay. 

[Laz Man]

37 minutes ago, Aldranon said:

A big game changer to A21 is the "fast travel" helicopters.

 

AFAIK, there is no such feature in A21. 

[FinkPloyd]

8 hours ago, Burrfly said:

 if I were to play 7 days to die knowing only 4 building materials, I wouldn't notice and I would give a positive review. It is however a difference if people were used to the 11 building materials (including different levels) which now have been reduced to 4.

 

There are less materials to build from but many more shapes to build with, and you no longer have to craft each shape individually (so often had left-overs that were a waste of  your resources).

 

I suppose it is a matter of preference, but I prefer the current system to the previous one.

 

I used to miss looting zombie corpses, until I played a mod that allowed you to loot all zombie corpses and it quickly became a such a chore I stopped doing it.

[Laz Man]

4 hours ago, HB_H4wk said:

@Laz Man We just finished our 1st Wasteland Weekend event on the server and I must say the debris /zombie infested streets were loved by all. I would like to know why the Tree Plains Tree never seems to be used? I broke up sections of the asphalt on the roadways and replaced them with Burn Forest Ground and placed them here and there to hide things. I think it improved the challenge of getting anywhere on the map inside city limits or on the way to a quest location.

 

I'm pretty sure we use those trees occasionally in POIs. 

 

As far as roads are concerned, that's a neat mod.  I've seen some others do similar like the GNAmod.

 

The wasteland should get some improvements before gold.  I know we have talked plenty about it just don't know which ideas will make it in at this point.

 

 

[Aldranon]

12 minutes ago, Laz Man said:

 

AFAIK, there is no such feature in A21. 

 

At the traders:  No fast travel or no helicopters that show up to fast travel?

24 minutes ago, Roland said:

 

Even if it doesn't come out in May their word is still good since they stated quite clearly from the beginning that May was an estimate and a hope and that would happen as long as nothing caused a delay. 

 

Well, he did say that mid-May should be the time.   Lathen was against the first of May but not Mid May.

[RipClaw]

7 hours ago, Laz Man said:

I would argue building is the best it has ever been.  I'd take 2000+ shapes to build with versus 11 building materials in a heartbeat... 😎

But unfortunately, it has become meaningless.

 

Because of all the prefabs, you don't need to build a base anymore. You simply occupy any POI. And for a horde base you just pick a POI with concrete walls and maybe you invest a day to modify it but that's it.

 

And I'm concerned that in A21 people will have even less reason to build because everyone will be constantly hunting for magazines to unlock new recipes. In A20 you could at least unlock some recipes via the skill trees but in A21 that's not possible anymore. Then you can swing a stone axe better if you put points into Miner69s but you can't craft an iron pickaxe unless you have read the necessary number of magazines.

10 minutes ago, Aldranon said:

At the traders:  No fast travel or no helicopters that show up to fast travel?

Nope. All the talk about fast travel is just pure speculation so far. None of it is officially confirmed and even if it comes it won't be in A21.

Edited May 15, 2023 by RipClaw (see edit history)

[Adun0608]

Can we add a mechanism for AI dynamic block damage in future versions? The longer the zombies survive, the higher the block damage. This will make the game more interesting and encourage players to clean up the zombies that surround them as soon as possible

 

Can you improve the survival mechanism of AI directors for zombies? In multiplayer games, I often find a large number of generated zombies around a player who chooses to hide, which will reduce the fun of others? Can you design a limit, such as when the number of zombies around the player is equal to 8, the zombies will not be generated and will instead be generated around other players, Zombies continue to generate below 8. The generated zombies do not include awakened zombies

 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Adun0608 (see edit history)

[Laz Man]

19 minutes ago, RipClaw said:

But unfortunately, it has become meaningless.

 

Because of all the prefabs, you don't need to build a base anymore. You simply occupy any POI. And for a horde base you just pick a POI with concrete walls and maybe you invest a day to modify it but that's it.

 

I don't think it's meaningless for everyone.  If anything, it gives you more options to use your imagination to try new strategies and trap configurations.

 

POIs have been around forever and people still enjoy building their own bases from scratch instead of using an existing POI.

 

Both strategies comes with its own trade offs. 

 

In one playthrough, I may decide to build from scratch and create a new setup I haven't tried yet or try to improve on an old tried and true design of the past.

 

In another playthrough I may try retrofitting a new POI I have never used before as a horde base.  It's a fun challenge that has brings endless enjoyment as every POI has its own character and quirks to work with. 

 

Add in more POIs, shapes and doors, and now you have even more options to play with again....😎

Edited May 15, 2023 by Laz Man (see edit history)

[Riamus]

2 hours ago, Aldranon said:

 

At the traders:  No fast travel or no helicopters that show up to fast travel?

 

Well, he did say that mid-May should be the time.   Lathen was against the first of May but not Mid May.

Fast travel was never stated to be in A21.  It was commented on and I believe someone (faatal maybe?) also commented on it in this thread that it was something they were going to add but that it was not going to be in A21.

 

They stated in that dev stream that May was their hope but was no guarantee and could be delayed based on bugs.

1 hour ago, RipClaw said:

But unfortunately, it has become meaningless.

 

Because of all the prefabs, you don't need to build a base anymore. You simply occupy any POI. And for a horde base you just pick a POI with concrete walls and maybe you invest a day to modify it but that's it.

 

And I'm concerned that in A21 people will have even less reason to build because everyone will be constantly hunting for magazines to unlock new recipes. In A20 you could at least unlock some recipes via the skill trees but in A21 that's not possible anymore. Then you can swing a stone axe better if you put points into Miner69s but you can't craft an iron pickaxe unless you have read the necessary number of magazines.

Nope. All the talk about fast travel is just pure speculation so far. None of it is officially confirmed and even if it comes it won't be in A21.

Just reading the forum, you see people regularly comment on how they only want to build bases and maybe mine and complain that they might have to loot some magazines because of the changes.  Building a base is going to be done by people no matter how many POI you have to choose from.  People like creating things.  Yes, many will upgrade a POI instead of building their own base.  So what?  Let them if that's what they want to do.  But that will happen whether or not they add more blocks or more POI.  When it comes down to it, more blocks is probably going to increase the number of people wanting to build their own bases because it gives them more freedom to make it look the way they want it to look.  Everyone plays the game differently and there isn't anything wrong with that.  I know that I will continue to build my own bases because I enjoy doing so.  Upgrading an existing POI to use as a base just holds no value for me.  I might do it on a rare occasion just because I feel like seeing what I might do with a POI that I think is interesting but that would be very rare.  With all the new blocks, I'm even more excited to build my own bases.

 

EDIT: Ok, I did a bit of searching and it was faatal who was commenting on fast travel and some things they were working on for it - like where the vehicles would appear if you fast travel with a vehicle.  It was moved to the overflow thread.  And he stated it may not even make it in for A22 but appear later.  So definitely not A21. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Riamus (see edit history)

[Evil_Geoff]

2 hours ago, RipClaw said:

Because of all the prefabs, you don't need to build a base anymore. You simply occupy any POI. And for a horde base you just pick a POI with concrete walls and maybe you invest a day to modify it but that's it.

That may be the case in a solo game.   When I play solo, I try to play like I would in a real world situation, and yes, using an existing POI that I can secure with as little work as possible is definitely how I would be going.  And yes, between TFP and modders, the number of cool buildings just keeps increasing.  The last version of the CompoPack for example, has over 1,000 prefabs that can be used on a map.  And even with all that, people still like to build their own places. 

And keep in mind that a lot of multiplayer servers don't allow players to use POI's for permanent housing or as horde night bases. 

 

[PoloPoPo]

Will that annoying auto turret sound problem be fixed with A21? (As reported here for example)

 

Placing auto turrets for base defense is absolutely impossible if you stay within hearing range as it completely @%$#s up all sounds.