Version 1.0 (Alpha 22) Dev Diary

[Old Crow]

Any info on what kind of set bonuses we'll be seeing from the new armor sets?

[User]

45 minutes ago, faatal said:

No plans to add back zombie looting. I find it tedious.

 

Block ambient occlusion has returned, so interiors are darker separate from ambient light. We still change the ambient light for indoor/outdoor, but subtle.

Yeah, good point. It probably is tedious. I guess the only reason I liked it was due to immersion, since I'm not a huge fan of loot bags, but given the larger zombie counts, it definitely would be a bit annoying, sorry. I don't know how to explain why I like it. I guess its just a mechanic I've always liked. Also made it rewarding for killing certain enemies with contextual equipment, like how I believe you used to be able to kill lumberjack zombies for axes. I always thought that was neat.

 

That's good to see. looking forward to it. Thank you! 😃

Edited March 27 by User (see edit history)

[bdubyah]

18 minutes ago, User said:

I guess its just a mechanic I've always liked. Also made it rewarding for killing certain enemies with contextual equipment, like how I believe you used to be able to kill lumberjack zombies for axes. I always thought that was neat.

That was my favorite part as well. Made you hunt specific enemies. I don't necessarily hate the loot bag system they use now, but I do hate how cookie cutter the loot bag contents are. Just go watch Glock's current series to see what I mean. I think the only reason more people don't complain is how rare the bags are normally.

[meganoth]

1 hour ago, Riamus said:

I'm not really a fan of the lockpicking mini games as seen in games like Skyrim.  They are fine in a game where you don't pick many locks, but when almost every POI has at least one locked chest and potentially multiple safes, it would get old really fast.

 

For a game like this, I'd prefer to use the method of not being able to unlock something if you don't have enough skill but once you do have enough skill, you can unlock that level lock every time.  Better than Skyrim style where you can get lucky and unlock a max level lock on the first try with basically no skill if you luck out in where you place the lockpick.

 

Lockpicks can be single use to not make lockpicks last forever with max skill.

 

I agree, I hate mini-games with a vengeance.

 

The only thing I have to critizise about the lockpick system is that investing many points into it does not feel useful. Even fully specced it takes a long time and feels not much faster than unspecced. And in contrast the shotgun or pickaxe of a fully specced strength player seems as fast as a fully specced lockpick, but the points invested in the pickaxe seem to be better invested as the pickaxe has more uses.

 

 

 

Edited March 27 by meganoth (see edit history)

[Rabbitslovecactus]

Will it be possible in future releases of this game to make a RWG map where every single POI is on the map and it has a massive city? 

[zztong]

8 hours ago, BFT2020 said:

I like the new method as I can quickly tell if I looted some of the containers.  If you don’t want it that way, it is easy to modify it to stay as containers

 

I like it too, though I do wish it was possible to put something into empty cabinets and then have the doors appear closed. That is, reverse the current process, maybe with an ALT-click to signal the desire to swap the block from empty to full and create an inventory. It isn't an important thing though.

 

5 hours ago, HB_H4wk said:

What about Lock picking to open doors?

 

I'd be for that. Most doors aren't even a significant barrier for a stone axe. By the time I'm picking locks an iron pick is tearing them up. It means some POIs being used as bases by players can keep nice looking doors rather than having to replace a nice door with a rough wooden one.

Edited March 27 by zztong (see edit history)

[Laran Mithras]

"Pink boxy thing," confirmed.

[doughphunghus]

3 hours ago, Riamus said:

I think if they want to make it so you can unlock doors, they need to redo lockpicking.  Right now, you can go through 10-20 lockpicks on one container of you have bad luck.  I'm not about to waste time and lockpicks on a door the way it is now.  It is far easier and generally faster to break down the door.  And since noise doesn't matter for waking up zombies, there is no real value in lockpicking a door right now.

I have on my grump face on today so...I have no idea how "true" this is but I *feel* (in my observations, I know nothing about the internals of the game) that its almost as if the RNG for lockpicking "changes/updates" slowly.  Meaning: if you have bad "luck" its because the RNG has chosen a low % of success at that moment... and it stays that way for (example) a minute or so.  So if you keep trying, you keep most likely failing.  Once I break about 3 picks, I go do something else (loot a room for a few minutes) and come back and it always seems to open in a few tries. A "total 0 evidence but it feels like it" thing.

 

But also: I agree: having it break over and over (and over, always at that last "15% or so" that you get once you get near the end) is quite annoying.  I wish it felt better, maybe progressed differently or had "something" else I had to do to know it helped improve unlock success ( I don't know  maybe "a set of tiered lockpick sets" so you just expect the lowest tier to break a lot. i mean: the timed charge/super pickaxe is "the top tier", why not have a middle tier that takes more resources to craft... or "buy/loot only"?). Additionally: sometimes with low lockpicking skill it just opens the first time and "yay!"... but also... it kinda feels wrong. I only want it to unlock on the first try when I'm super skilled or have super tools.

Edited March 28 by doughphunghus (see edit history)

[Laran Mithras]

In the console SS's, there is a pink boxy thing labeled "legendary parts..."

Not that I noticed or anything. Plausible deniability: it's only for console.

[Adam the Waster]

7 hours ago, HB_H4wk said:

What about Lock picking to open doors?

I don't get Why we can't.  It would be so cool to Lock pick more stuff. Like army trucks, doors, players cars, maybe fuses box's to turn power on or generators 

2 hours ago, zztong said:

 players can keep nice looking doors rather than having to replace a nice door with a rough wooden one.

Should be in the block shape menu for that

[Old Crow]

1 hour ago, Adam the Waster said:

I don't get Why we can't.  It would be so cool to Lock pick more stuff. Like army trucks, doors, players cars, maybe fuses box's to turn power on or generators 

 

 

Because it would make sense, and we can't have that.

[Roland]

On 3/25/2024 at 7:38 AM, POCKET951 said:

I got my hands on the Alpha 22 experimental build TFP was showing off on consoles at Paxeast.  I found something in my playthrough that hasn't  been announced in the alpha 22 dev diary yet. 😅 not sure if I'm allowed to spill and I also don't want to steal TFP's thunder.

@Roland 

If it was at Pax East then it is public. Spill!!

[Roland]

On 3/26/2024 at 12:50 PM, Viset4 said:

Hello, I just wanted to ask about the decision to divide the armor into 4 pieces instead of 5. My question is, why would it offer more flexibility to have the pants separated from the upper pieces in the new models? Thank you.
 

There are a number of considerations that went into the character outfit change and not the least of these is having outfits that look fantastic when worn. Too many pieces and it all loses its cohesiveness. Boots and gloves and hats can be switched and mixed without looking too bad but a different pant on a clashing chest just makes it look bad—- like now. There is no more layering of clothing under armor pieces making everyone look puffy like the little brother on the Christmas Story. 
 

Balance is also a factor. 16 collective mod slots is probably still a bit OP plus each piece has a built in bonus so 5 pieces instead of 4 would just be too much power. 
 

People fear that everyone will look the same but for those who only ever equip the very very best, people already look the same in A21 even with all the variety. Do you stay in a skirt for the sake of variety or do you switch to BDU pants as soon as you find them?  Do you cover it all with a poncho as soon as you can craft one? So does everyone. 
 

Finally, this is all tied to bandits and NPCs who will be wearing the same outfits so simpler is better than more complex in balancing out these outfits. 

[Adam the Waster]

2 hours ago, Roland said:

 

Finally, this is all tied to bandits and NPCs who will be wearing the same outfits so simpler is better than more complex in balancing out these outfits. 

Does that mean I will get my overlord armor?

[SylenThunder]

8 hours ago, Old Crow said:

 

Because it would make sense, and we can't have that.

More likely because it would allow you to bypass land claim blocks.

[User]

26 minutes ago, SylenThunder said:

More likely because it would allow you to bypass land claim blocks.

I mean, true, but I think it would be a benefit overall. Lots of fun, too. Could add an element of tension as someone could be stealing your car or sneaking into your base if you aren't vigilant. I don't really play multiplayer, so it'd be cool to hear what mp players think of it, but I think its a great idea. Maybe make it require high intelligence and maxed lockpicking. Could add a multiplayer setting for whether lockpicking bypasses land claim blocks. I think it's a pretty neat idea 😀

 

 

[Morloc]

1 hour ago, SylenThunder said:

More likely because it would allow you to bypass land claim blocks.

Yet...how hard would it be to differentiate between claimed stuff, and basic POI stuff?


-Arch Necromancer Morloc 💀

[Catdaddy]

1 hour ago, SylenThunder said:

More likely because it would allow you to bypass land claim blocks.

Only if designed that way, right? LCB already can regulate block damage, making your base invulnerable to other players. How hard could it be to have LCB also disallow lockpicking in MP? I really don't know...

 

 

[schwanz9000]

On 3/27/2024 at 12:00 AM, Old Crow said:

 

Isn't that Fortitude?

Correct. My bad. I mix those up all the time AND it's been a long time since I've played/worked on A21.

Guess I'll take the Strength out of the cigar now that we have the dedicated Strength mod. IDK. We'll see. 😛

 

[User]

52 minutes ago, schwanz9000 said:

Correct. My bad. I mix those up all the time AND it's been a long time since I've played/worked on A21.

Guess I'll take the Strength out of the cigar now that we have the dedicated Strength mod. IDK. We'll see. 😛

 

Hi, dumb question;

Will they be like, an actual item or accessory? Feels a bit weird if they're just like, random magical stat cubes you can find in loot that aren't actually equipment/gear, at least to me. Or is the picture/title of the strength mod that we've seen just a placeholder? Just curious since I don't know much about them. Thank you!

Edited March 28 by User (see edit history)

[bdubyah]

I guess I just don't understand why we need these odd new stat mods when we already had them. I thought maybe the old ones would be going away with the new outfit system, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So...why?

[khzmusik]

20 hours ago, faatal said:

No plans to add back zombie looting. I find it tedious.

 

Block ambient occlusion has returned, so interiors are darker separate from ambient light. We still change the ambient light for indoor/outdoor, but subtle.

 

RE: zombie looting, my understanding is that looting would require the bodies be around longer, which degrades performance immensely.

 

RE: interior/exterior lighting. Is there any way to make this easily moddable? Perhaps not through XML, but at least through defining some variables in C# that modders could easily change through a simple Harmony patch or something?

 

I ask because, frankly, the way A21 handles interior lighting is exactly backwards from how our eyes actually work.

 

If your eyes are adjusted to exterior (brighter) ambient light, then the interior (darker) places should look darker than normal. When crossing into those spaces, the spaces initially look nearly pitch-black, but as your eyes adjust the interior spaces look brighter than normal. (And the exterior spaces look very bright, almost washed-out.)

 

But in game, when standing outside, dark interior spaces look like they're brightly lit. When transitioning into those spaces, they lose their lighting and look darker. Even worse: if you find a brightly-lit spot in that space and stand in it, the entire space suddenly becomes brightly lit. I find it incredibly annoying, and I have heard others express the same opinion.

 

Of course, you can make your game's lighting work however you like, I'm just asking for the ability of players or modders to override it.

 

EDIT: For example - my guess is there's probably some variable that controls how much darker it gets when you are in a dark space vs. a bright space. Simply allowing this value to be set via XML would mean we could just enter a negative number rather than a positive one, and that would solve most of the problems.

Edited March 28 by khzmusik (see edit history)

[Old Crow]

6 hours ago, SylenThunder said:

More likely because it would allow you to bypass land claim blocks.

 

Seems easy enough - don't make it so player vehicles or player-placed doors/boxes can be lockpicked. Make it so lockpicked doors can no longer be picked within a claim block-protected area.

[meganoth]

51 minutes ago, bdubyah said:

I guess I just don't understand why we need these odd new stat mods when we already had them. I thought maybe the old ones would be going away with the new outfit system, but that doesn't seem to be the case. So...why?

 

My guesses: More items for the mods slots means more tough decisions which mods to install, even at quality 6. And tough decisions are a good thing in my book. Also vanishing items would result in complaints they were removing features.

 

Or was this a roundabout question of why the clothes slots were removed?

 

Edited March 28 by meganoth (see edit history)

[Fanatical_Meat]

4 hours ago, Catdaddy said:

Only if designed that way, right? LCB already can regulate block damage, making your base invulnerable to other players. How hard could it be to have LCB also disallow lockpicking in MP? I really don't know...

 

 

What percentage of players need lock pick protection for their base?

Sounds like more work needs to be done to make it a reality than players that need that feature.