Alpha 21 Dev Diary

[RipClaw]

3 minutes ago, Silverridge said:

a small question from me. nests and loot containers (garbage and rubbish) in the area. do they respawn on their own or only after a wipe?

Only after a wipe or a chunk reset

 

[unholyjoe]

5 minutes ago, Silverridge said:

a small question from me. nests and loot containers (garbage and rubbish) in the area. do they respawn on their own or only after a wipe?

short answer to your question is not on its own. you have to turn it on either via server config for server or game creation options.

 

as per server config set as default off

<property name="MaxChunkAge"					value="-1"/>				<!-- The number of in-game days which must pass since visiting a chunk before it will reset to its original state if not revisited or protected (e.g. by a land claim or bedroll being in close proximity). -->

 

then there is a screen shot of game setting when creating a game (which is also default to off).

 

 

[Silverridge]

how is the chunk reset usually set? I tested on different servers and after a while the nests and the rubbish reappeared.

ok ...thx

 

[LewZephyr]

Loving all the updates to the game.  Wife and I are playing a duo game and each of us are ooohhhing and ahhhing at the various upgrades to POI's and their elements.

 

Curious if anyone else feels the UI for connecting to a server could use some work?

Especially the password popup transparency.  its so faint you can see the server list better than the box that pops up.

[Gamida]

1 hour ago, LewZephyr said:

Loving all the updates to the game.  Wife and I are playing a duo game and each of us are ooohhhing and ahhhing at the various upgrades to POI's and their elements.

 

Curious if anyone else feels the UI for connecting to a server could use some work?

Especially the password popup transparency.  its so faint you can see the server list better than the box that pops up.

 

 

I keep hoping they would add a filter for ping so you can set it to only show pings between the lowest and highest you want to see.

Example: I only would like to see servers with pings well low as possible for low setting and maybe no higher say 250.

Maybe they just need to be able to filter the max ping you would like to see.

[BFT2020]

Just because you were able to do something in previous builds without any modification on your part, doesn't mean it will change in future builds or that TFP are obligated to balance the game around your playstyle if it goes against their development plan for the game.

 

We all agreed to this when we purchased the game in Early Access

 

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR?

First of all, look for games that are interesting, exciting, and that you want to play. Then, there are a couple things you should consider before making your purchase:

What is the game like to play right now?

When you buy an Early Access game, you should consider what the game is like to play right now. Look at the screenshots and videos to see what the game looks like in its current state. There are a lot of ways a game can go as it develops over time, so if you aren't excited to play the game in its current state, then hold off and wait until the next update--it shouldn't be far off.

Edited June 20, 2023 by BFT2020 (see edit history)

[Gamida]

1 minute ago, BFT2020 said:

Just because you were able to do something in previous builds without any modification on your part, doesn't mean it will change in future builds or that TFP are obligated to balance the game around your playstyle if it goes against their development plan for the game.

 

We all agreed to this when we purchased the game in Early Access

 

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR?

First of all, look for games that are interesting, exciting, and that you want to play. Then, there are a couple things you should consider before making your purchase:

What is the game like to play right now?

When you buy an Early Access game, you should consider what the game is like to play right now. Look at the screenshots and videos to see what the game looks like in its current state. There are a lot of ways a game can go as it develops over time, so if you aren't excited to play the game in its current state, then hold off and wait until the next update--it shouldn't be far off.

 

 

I don't get that part...was this written in an alternate universe???

 

[meganoth]

14 hours ago, Adam the Waster said:

So my question is will we get any of the decor parts later on? like the Scrap metal sheets, wooden planks, stoves? other stuff. i wanna build my hobo fort!

you may say (well just spawn them/mod them in). but my main thought is about the console. they will not get any of that stuff unless they cheat. 

 

How do you know? Modding may not work, but spawning with creative mode seems perfectly possible on console.

 

14 hours ago, Adam the Waster said:

also zombie spawns, if players like me like to suffer and have the max amount of zombies i can. like 3x more zombies in the wild. will that become a setting rather than going into XMS Settings and doing it like that. because again... console won't be able to do that.  

 

[Morloc]

4 hours ago, Blake_ said:

10 hours ago, DrunkZombie said:

To drink water from a source you need to have nothing in your hand and don't move for a couple of seconds. Should work everytime then .

Yeah, well. It doesn't.

 

From what I'm seeing, if the source of water is too small (too shallow in particular) it doesn't work.

 

 

-Arch Necromancer Morloc 💀

[Syphon583]

On 6/16/2023 at 2:38 PM, Archer said:

Am I mistaken in that the only way we can drink from rivers, streams, and lakes now is with our hands, and if we do it that way, we end up with a % chance of getting diarrhea? 

There is a water filter mod you can get for any helmet that will remove the chance of dysentery.

[BayouMac]

Has anyone experience difficulty obtaining engines from wrenched vehicles?  I’ve wrenched at least 20 vehicles and only got 1 engine.  Most of these vehicle were whole.

[meilodasreh]

21 hours ago, retrogamingdev said:

Your specific example sounds like an extremely unlucky RNG situation

exactly what I'm saying.

An experienced player's (as I may humbly call myself) survival shouldn't really depend on being lucky or not.

 

What does this do to a new player?

 

I wasn't ranting about the game in its current state, I'm concerned that it lost accessibility for a new player base.

 

TFP often stated that the game still has to be a good/fun start for a new player, when someone of the "thousands of ingame hours forum members" here said that the game is way too easy. They always were like "one's vast experience is no scale to judge difficulty, keep in mind it must stay accessible for a newbie"

I just have the feeling they mgiht have lost that scale themselves a little. 

Newbies act much slower than an experienced player, and have to figure out the basic stuff first, aside from the initial quest line. 

They don't even know how much of a certain material you have to have, and where to get those. Stuff like that.

And maybe they lose interest in the game because they die too often before having things figured out correctly.

Because that isn't fun. It's annoying. At least for me.

Just saying. 

Again, not angry here, but concerned.

 

 

[mprojekt]

1 hour ago, Gamida said:

 

 

I don't get that part...was this written in an alternate universe???

 

 

TFP does mention the issue of bugs, unplayability, data loss, and so on, in experimental builds.

 

Here is the link to the relevant post:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/251570/discussions/4/5047948127380793514/#c3168820451529888700

 

[Riamus]

4 minutes ago, BayouMac said:

Has anyone experience difficulty obtaining engines from wrenched vehicles?  I’ve wrenched at least 20 vehicles and only got 1 engine.  Most of these vehicle were whole.

This isn't unusual.  The chance of an engine is low and RNG can cause you to need to wrench a bunch of vehicles to get an engine, while another time, you might get 3 in a row.  Also, broken cars even in A20 seemed to have a lower chance of an engine.  Not sure if that's still the case.  It may not even have been correct in A20 even though it seemed that way.  I haven't looked into the files to see what the chances are to know for sure.

[meilodasreh]

I remember Temreki (GN&S) explained in one of his recent content about A21, that there are a few things to consider to choose the right car/wreck for an engine.

Don't know exactly what he said, but there was a difference between the new A21 models and the older ones,

somewhat about their "initial state of destruction".

There were some of them with just no chance to give you an engine.

Must rewatch one or two, maybe I find it again.

 

edit:

here it is (OMG youtube finally lets you create a clip out of longer vids, not just the starting time stamp but a "from time X to time Y" snip!

THIS IS AWESOME! THX youtube!!!

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxYAW2Bo_2V-XV3sFIUvtvLNOUnHsx9H4X

 

...and THX Temreki for the always great content!

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by meilodasreh (see edit history)

[BFT2020]

Remember in Alpha 20, cars had 3 transitions (from a full car to the bare bones).  You wouldn't get an engine on the full model or the bare bones model, just the transition block between a full car and the frame.

 

spoiler - details

Spoiler

No, chances haven't really changed much, though they have some cases were you have a 50% chance of harvesting an engine, but the count is 0,1.  So even if you get lucky and roll for the engine, the count can be 0.

 

25% chance was the normal.  Buses in A20 had a 75% chance, but were reduced to 50% with a count of 0,1 in A21.

 

Based on what I see, it doesn't look like the chances have changed that much.  You might just be unlucky

[Riamus]

5 hours ago, archergod said:

Okay, I get a chance to play new Experimental, few things I am not sure if are bugs:

 

1. When the latest 317 update came in it wiped my Skill point allocated already, and magazine read before it. I have to restart new game 

2. Performance is laggy. I have 1660 GTX, on Core i7 A20 give good 100+ FPS on settings (medium) I play, but now it jump between 14 to 50 and become so unplayable at time. 
3. I was cleaning this room and I see 3 Z coming to attach me (as it was level 1 house end loot) So I close the door between them and me, and before I can make switch to my pipe machine gun. and hit between door (as they break part of it). my player is dead. there were not feral and I am sure they hit me from behind closed door  (same way we use to hit them from ages) ..

1. This happened to most people.  They recommended a restart with the update.  In experimental, you need to be prepared for this type of thing.

2. I've seen this fluctuating fps myself.  It makes the game speed up and slow down constantly.  You can watch timers pause every second or so.  Walking/running and attacking all have times when you see things slow down or delay.  However, this seems to smooth out after a while of playing.  Once I've been playing for maybe 10-15 minutes or so (I haven't timed it), it will run normally from then on.  I'm not sure why this smooths out over time like that.  It's like it hasn't loaded everything yet or something.  I hoping to see a fix at some point.  Never had issues like this in A20, though I got a lot of lag after running a tier 5 until I got out of the area where it was located in A20.  Sometimes it took 2 in a row for that to happen.

3. When they go to a crawl at the door (this should not happen, imo), they gain their super crawl reach distance and can hit to from far away (again, this should not happen).  They are aware of it but not sure if it'll get fixed.

[mprojekt]

4 minutes ago, meilodasreh said:

I remember Temreki (GN&S) explained in one of his recent content about A21, that there are a few things to consider to choose the right car/wreck for an engine.

Don't know exactly what he said, but there was a difference between the new A21 models and the older ones,

somewhat about their "initial state of destruction".

There were some of them with just no chance to give you an engine.

Must rewatch one or two, maybe I find it again.

 

I never get an engine from automobiles that, visually, do not have an engine in the engine bay or appear to be burned-out husks.

Edited June 20, 2023 by mprojekt (see edit history)

[BFT2020]

3 minutes ago, meilodasreh said:

I remember Temreki (GN&S) explained in one of his recent content about A21, that there are a few things to consider to choose the right car/wreck for an engine.

Don't know exactly what he said, but there was a difference between the new A21 models and the older ones,

somewhat about their "initial state of destruction".

There were some of them with just no chance to give you an engine.

Must rewatch one or two, maybe I find it again.

 

Yes, the ones in the game that are called burnt or abandoned are the ones without a chance for an engine to drop.  That would similar to the ones we came across in A20 that were frame only.

[meilodasreh]

7 minutes ago, BFT2020 said:

Yes, the ones in the game that are called burnt or abandoned are the ones without a chance for an engine to drop.

yes.

I edited the video link into my previous post.

Chances are explained in there.

Edited June 20, 2023 by meilodasreh (see edit history)

[Lostyouthkhat]

Anyone knows if we can craft all the new doors I see in game? I was just able to craft the regular iron and wooden doors at the moment. Same goes for the "fence door" in front of some shops, that you can pull down. Are these hidden behind some garage door shape or not craftable as well?

Edited June 20, 2023 by Lostyouthkhat (see edit history)

[BFT2020]

1 hour ago, meilodasreh said:

yes.

I edited the video link into my previous post.

Chances are explained in there.

 

Sometimes I am too fast for my own good  😉

[Riamus]

33 minutes ago, Lostyouthkhat said:

Anyone knows if we can craft all the new doors I see in game? I was just able to craft the regular iron and wooden doors at the moment. Same goes for the "fence door" in front of some shops, that you can pull down. Are these hidden behind some garage door shape or not craftable as well?

They said they'd all be craftable but they are not.  You have to use the creative menu to add in most of the new doors.  I don't understand why they won't just let us use them.

[doughphunghus]

12 minutes ago, Riamus said:

I don't understand why they won't just let us use them.

I don't know for these specifically, but In "the past" a reason (i believe i read this) given for not allowing players to craft "everything" is because some blocks/things are special in some way (like they play sounds, or have a high poly count, etc) and in multiplayer a bad actor/troll could craft 1,000 of them and cause the game issues (like cause FPS drops or other things). So therefore those items were removed from crafting/buying and only accessible from dev mode, or mods if the game owner allowed it. Having a few of the items "per chunk" was ok just not excessive amounts of them, which is why its ok for pois to have them as they have ways to testing each/entire POI for things like total poly counts.

 

then again, maybe they are just brand new new assets and  haven't been fully vetted for "player crafting" yet, so the default is "cannot craft"/buy.

Edited June 20, 2023 by doughphunghus (see edit history)

[BFT2020]

15 minutes ago, Riamus said:

They said they'd all be craftable but they are not.  You have to use the creative menu to add in most of the new doors.  I don't understand why they won't just let us use them.

 

Is this including the doors that have the shape menu option to change it?  I haven't gotten far into my games yet to craft any special doors, I just crafted a wooden door for my base to replace the one that the zombies destroyed.

 

The reason all of them are not yet craftable might be a very simple reason.  Each door or variant door block has to have a recipe to craft.   With all the other things going on, it might not have been a priority to get them all done for Alpha 21 released.  If my count is right, they have 9 recipes for specific doors and 13 recipes for door blocks variant in the current iteration.