Alpha 21 has broken over 90,000 consecutive players and is in the top 10 games on Steam

[Khalagar]

Alpha 21 coupled with the Steam Sale has been an amazing success, lets have a positive thread for once praising the devs as they clearly know what they are doing.

 

I for one love the way the devs have handled the game over all. There are many, many, many generic zombie survival games, but none have managed to even remotely stand up to 7 Days gameplay loop

 

The constant updates has also been a great thing IMO. I treat each alpha like a "Season" in an ARPG where you come in fresh and make a new character in and start over from scratch, and just get to play again in a massively updated game and see all the new stuff added.

 

 

Here's to 90K heading towards 100k! Great stuff TFP, thanks for the nearly 1,000 hours I've gotten out of the game over the years

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Khalagar (see edit history)

[SylenThunder]

Took this a few minutes ago.

 

[Maharin]

I am one of the players they've broken.

[Scyris]

I think its more how pretty the game looks than anything thats attracting more casuals to it. Many casual gamers will look at a games graphics and go yay or nay based on that alone. That coupled with how they rushed a21 stable out to make it for the sale. I doubt a21 stable would have been out so quick if it wasn't for the sale. I'm glad its doing well, I just wish the game would go somewhere, as to me it hasn't gone anywhere in like 3-4 years other than visually.

 

That said, I recently hit 8000+ hours played in 7dtd, gotta admit its been the best value for money for me i've seen in gaming. Very modable too so when you get bored of vanilla you can mod the hell out of it, some are even major overhauls that make it feel like a entirely new game.

[Andy Red]

TFP should host a competition for best screenshots, that can then be added to the Steam Store page.
The current ones on there are a little lacking and don't really show off the true graphical beauty of the game imo, so could be limiting sales of the game.

[PoppaSmirk]

I am cruising the forums much more when a new Alpha drops; and at those times it is often to get information and share opinions on things that don't find immediate appeal to me;  but I agree that I am a "fan" of 7DtD.   With nearly 5000 hours of play via STEAM, and probably close to 1000 hours back on the old XBOX version before and during my migration to PC gaming.  I marveled at the quality improvements in graphics that for me, started with Alpha 18's release; as I felt for the first time that 7DtD became much more lush and alive.  Since that time, the Game World itself has seen massive improvements,  random world generation (for me) takes between 4-5 minutes now,  whereas in 2019 it took  closer to 10-12 minutes.  I've become a Host to Multiplayer Worlds and made some new friendly acquaintances along the way, partially from inviting People that had not tried 7DtD before ( or knew it only from the old XBOX version and hadn't been overly impressed with that very old version of the game)

 

I still promote 7DtD in conversations with friends.  I love the gameplay,  and I know of at least four people that have "jumped on the Hypetrain" as I spoke of all the coming improvements with the Alpha 21 release (and shared lots of screen shots on My phone to show people snippets of pics and descriptions of pre-release reviews).  I have also encouraged others to come back and give 7DtD a try again.  I don't 'talk up'  many games.  7DtD is the first game I speak of when I start talking with other gamers.   I am very pleased to see the new 'Record Number of Players'    I certainly want 7DtD to succeed.  The recent Alpha 21 release changes have been sweeping, and while not everyone I know has yet been receptive to the changes,  most are slowly coming in with a more open mind and I hope that my weekend play sessions get back to playing with 5-6 other players again.   So I say "Bravo" to all the wonderful improvements the game has seen so far, and a sincere desire to see the game evolve in more and better ways and cross over that Peak 100,000 Players at one Time milestone.

[Khalagar]

4 hours ago, Scyris said:

I think its more how pretty the game looks than anything thats attracting more casuals to it

 

Err, no lol. The game has gotten pretty big graphic updates, but compared to the other generic zombie games it still looks really dated and a lot of people I've tried to get into the game still say it "looks too old".  People that are impressed by graphics are definitely not the target market / the ones coming to the game in droves

 

Look at "No One Survived" on  Steam. If people just cared about graphics they would go for that because it has generic Unreal Engine 5 graphics which are a lot more modern. But in reality, that game gets dumpstered in reviews for the most part despite most reviews saying "it do be pretty tho"  before trashing the game

 

Imo none of the other zombie survival games have the same fun gameplay loop, which a lot of that comes from 7 Days using a Voxel based world so you can dig and break through walls etc. 7 Days also just has way better balance and mechanics etc, because you can tell how much the devs actually like their own game. Madmole actually plays 7 Days himself (or used to) and you can tell how much difference that alone makes in polish and quality of life

 

4 hours ago, Scyris said:

I just wish the game would go somewhere, as to me it hasn't gone anywhere in like 3-4 years other than visually.

 

???

 

The last 4 years have been massive, wtf are you talking about lol. The zombies all had visual overhauls and some new ones were added, we had like 900 new Poi added with a complete overhaul of RWG in A20 I believe it was, then A21 added another almost 300 Poi and improved RWG further, we had the entire weapon system overhauled with a bunch of new weapons added etc

 

 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Khalagar (see edit history)

[Slingblade2040]

42 minutes ago, Khalagar said:

 

The last 4 years have been massive, wtf are you talking about lol. The zombies all had visual overhauls and some new ones were added, we had like 900 new Poi added with a complete overhaul of RWG in A20 I believe it was, then A21 added another almost 300 Poi and improved RWG further, we had the entire weapon system overhauled with a bunch of new weapons added etc

 

 

I wouldn't call that massive. Yeah the game looks nicer but them adding some extra buildings and a like 3 new weapons isn't anything that's game changing in these past few years.  Game changing would be what alot of the overhaul mods have added. 

 

Alot of stuff in SP is rendered pointless like farming, cooking and most of the crafting thanks to how much more trader focused the game has become. No the whole oh don't like traders don't use them is not a valid point to make since that's literally part of a starting quest line and shown to new players that they need to use the traders unless they want to do some ridiculous challenge playthrough.

 

Even exploration has become mute thanks to the quests resetting PoIs.  Like why go into the wasteland when quest rewards will be just as good and I can keep looting buildings I've already looted since quests will reset them.

 

While some of the updates have given some QoL features and slighty improved the game for the most part they have more or less ruined alot of SP aspects but made MP better.

 

I'm looking at this alpha 21 as beauty update to the game and hoping alpha 22 will add actual content to the game along with the furthering of that whole Duke of navazgane stuff. 

[Riamus]

55 minutes ago, Khalagar said:

The last 4 years have been massive, wtf are you talking about lol. The zombies all had visual overhauls and some new ones were added, we had like 900 new Poi added with a complete overhaul of RWG in A20 I believe it was, then A21 added another almost 300 Poi and improved RWG further, we had the entire weapon system overhauled with a bunch of new weapons added etc

Pretty sure they don't consider such things to be "going somewhere" even if others do.  I think they mean that there aren't many big new features added to the game, which is true and will continue to be true as we head toward gold (other than bandits).  Most everything left before gold will be "polish" and not new features.  That's what happens as you near gold.

[Riamus]

1 minute ago, Slingblade2040 said:

I wouldn't call that massive. Yeah the game looks nicer but them adding some extra buildings and a like 3 new weapons isn't anything that's game changing in these past few years.  Game changing would be what alot of the overhaul mods have added. 

 

Alot of stuff in SP is rendered pointless like farming, cooking and most of the crafting thanks to how much more trader focused the game has become. No the whole oh don't like traders don't use them is not a valid point to make since that's literally part of a starting quest line and shown to new players that they need to use the traders unless they want to do some ridiculous challenge playthrough.

 

Even exploration has become mute thanks to the quests resetting PoIs.  Like why go into the wasteland when quest rewards will be just as good and I can keep looting buildings I've already looted since quests will reset them.

 

While some of the updates have given some QoL features and slighty improved the game for the most part they have more or less ruined alot of SP aspects but made MP better.

 

I'm looking at this alpha 21 as beauty update to the game and hoping alpha 22 will add actual content to the game along with the furthering of that whole Duke of navazgane stuff. 

Uh.... you aren't going to find enough food in traders only, even if you go to every trader on the map at each restock (any you're talking about not needing to explore, so that's not what you're suggesting doing).  You have to cook.  And farming is an alternative to hunting.  It gives you better cooked food but is still optional as you can hunt instead.  That's entirely up to the player.  Neither is really affected seriously by traders.  You can lower how much you need to cook but you still have to cook.  As far as crafting, I craft more in A21 than in A20, so that was improved.  However, because of the changes to the crafting costs (nothing to do with the trader), I don't craft anywhere near as often as I might if the crafting costs were the same as in A20.  The traders aren't really the cause of crafting being an issue, though.  Sure, you can buy stuff from the trader or get stuff from quest rewards but I think most players improve their weapons, tools and armor far more often through loot and than through traders or crafting.

 

And wastelands give you far better loot than you'll get in the forest.  Quest rewards won't change (AFAIK) but you'll get much better loot and that can outpace quest rewards.  Plenty of reason to go there unless you don't like the wasteland.  But that's really separate from exploring and exploring is really just limited by what the player likes or doesn't like.  I explore all the time.  However, I explore for towns and not wilderness because there's just nothing in the wilderness worth exploring.  I'm not saying the wilderness POI aren't nice because they are but driving all over to explore them isn't what I'd be interested in doing as the loot isn't any different.  I can just stop at one occasionally when traveling between towns if I want to check it out or if a quest sends me there.  No good reason to explore the wilderness, imo.  But that has nothing to do with quests resetting POIs.  All that offers is a player option to stay in one place rather than forcing players to travel and I don't think the game should force you to travel if you don't want to.

 

A22 will add bandits unless something goes wrong.  The story may not be added until later and possibly not until gold release.

[Slingblade2040]

8 minutes ago, Riamus said:

Uh.... you aren't going to find enough food in traders only, even if you go to every trader on the map at each restock (any you're talking about not needing to explore, so that's not what you're suggesting doing).  You have to cook.  And farming is an alternative to hunting.  It gives you better cooked food but is still optional as you can hunt instead.  That's entirely up to the player.  Neither is really affected seriously by traders.  You can lower how much you need to cook but you still have to cook.  As far as crafting, I craft more in A21 than in A20, so that was improved.  However, because of the changes to the crafting costs (nothing to do with the trader), I don't craft anywhere near as often as I might if the crafting costs were the same as in A20.  The traders aren't really the cause of crafting being an issue, though.  Sure, you can buy stuff from the trader or get stuff from quest rewards but I think most players improve their weapons, tools and armor far more often through loot and than through traders or crafting.

 

And wastelands give you far better loot than you'll get in the forest.  Quest rewards won't change (AFAIK) but you'll get much better loot and that can outpace quest rewards.  Plenty of reason to go there unless you don't like the wasteland.  But that's really separate from exploring and exploring is really just limited by what the player likes or doesn't like.  I explore all the time.  However, I explore for towns and not wilderness because there's just nothing in the wilderness worth exploring.  I'm not saying the wilderness POI aren't nice because they are but driving all over to explore them isn't what I'd be interested in doing as the loot isn't any different.  I can just stop at one occasionally when traveling between towns if I want to check it out or if a quest sends me there.  No good reason to explore the wilderness, imo.  But that has nothing to do with quests resetting POIs.  All that offers is a player option to stay in one place rather than forcing players to travel and I don't think the game should force you to travel if you don't want to.

 

A22 will add bandits unless something goes wrong.  The story may not be added until later and possibly not until gold release.

I have yet to bother cooking anything and this is after 28 games. Vending machines and traders have sold more than enough buffs, food and drinks to sustain and no I don't have any points in iron gut.  Hell the looting of so much canned goods, full meals and food bundle reward in the loot also helps towards not needing to craft food or drinks.

 

Haven't bothered leaving forest biome thanks to the end loot and quest rewards or just stuff purchased from traders and that  is literally an exploration killer. Why go to the wasteland if I can stay in a weaker area that gives same loot by just doing quests? Basically ends up not making other biomes valid also.

 

When exploration and more or less all crafting and cooking can be met by questing, looting and purchasing then it kills a huge chunk of the game and at that point its no longer survival crafting its looter shooter with quests. 

 

Yes i know as usual all of these things are SP issues and have been for the past few alphas. Just seems SP has become an after thought and if those things want to be made important we have to heavily mod the game or add a ridiculous amount of restrictions that removes a decent amount of content that's been added. 

[Riamus]

Well, if you can get by without cooking, that's fine.  I don't use vending machines personally so don't see anything from there to offset cooking and traders often either don't have any food or only have a couple of things that you'll burn through in under a day.  I have no reason not to cook and I think most players are cooking, so that's something that isn't really an issue for most people, I think.  Besides, I think most players wouldn't want to live off canned food all game even if they can.  You just have to eat way too much of it, imo.  Far better to live off real food and only eat a small number of times per day.  But that's up to the player.  Cooking is easy so I don't see any reason to avoid it.  If you like buying everything, then that's a viable option and there should be options.  I will say that if you increase loot abundance or air drops, you can end up getting more food than you can use and will be able to stop cooking by mid game.  On the other hand, you can also reduce those and it'll be more challenging if that's what you like.

 

Nothing is keeping you in the forest biome other than yourself.  Most players aren't going to stay there all game and so the game doesn't necessarily need to give any additional incentive to go to the other biomes, imo.  I wouldn't mind more reasons to explore the wilderness, though.

 

Also, remember that this game isn't just one genre but a mix of many.  It isn't a survival crafting game any more than a looter shooter game.  It is a combination of many genres that are all being intertwined into its own "genre".  There will be options to play the game using a variety of combinations of these different genres.  If you want to play it as a looter shooter, you can.  If you want to craft, you can.  They are at least attempting to make it more survival oriented, even if it's not working that well.  Not every way of playing will be represented or equally balanced.  This is more of a co-op or single player game than a PVP game even if you can play PVP.  So they don't need to make every way of playing equal.  If it takes longer to progress when doing things one way than when doing things another way, that isn't really a big deal.  People just like to be as fast (or faster) than everyone else even if they choose an option that wouldn't necessarily need to be as fast.

 

I don't mind the game in SP at all except that I have played it enough to find SP kind of boring.  I prefer having someone to talk to and work with while playing the game.  I find it's more enjoyable that way.  But I still don't have any problems with SP.

 

I think a main thing to consider is this...  If you want to cook, you clearly can.  If you aren't cooking because you are buying stuff instead, then it's a good indication that you don't actually like cooking.  If you did like cooking, you'd be choosing that option rather than buying stuff.  The same thing for other things in the game.  As I said, crafting costs are an issue that can prevent you from wanting to craft higher tier stuff, so that's a bit limiting but other than that, if you enjoy crafting, you can surely do so.  If you choose not to, then you probably don't really enjoy it.  And the game shouldn't force you to do these things if you want to do something else.  It is interesting seeing people complain that something like traders removes a lot of the game and that there are restrictions or that players are being forced to play a certain way and yet they are asking for the same thing - that the option to use traders for these things be removed or nerfed so players are forced to play a certain way.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Riamus (see edit history)

[AtomicUs5000]

1 hour ago, Khalagar said:

Imo none of the other zombie survival games have the same fun gameplay loop, which a lot of that comes from 7 Days using a Voxel based world so you can dig and break through walls etc. 7 Days also just has way better balance and mechanics etc, because you can tell how much the devs actually like their own game.

 
Agreed. There is another similar game rising in popularity that focusses mostly on a similar loop, but you cannot manipulate the terrain in any way. I consider 7D2D to be a very revolutionary game and I have considered it my favorite game for about 6 consecutive years. This is the game that other games will copy or take inspiration from. I have also always been in the crowd of people who would love if the game remained forever in alpha... always new things to see and try and like getting another game for free. However, I also have to agree with some people that the last several alphas haven't provided enough in that regard. It's a diagonal movement. Not exactly sideways, but definitely not forward.