Project Slaanhatten

[Slaan]

Still a lot of work to do but the first version of the distant terrain meshes are complete, the views are amazing, the pimps really done a nice job with this feature and big thanks to hal for getting the commands to us.

 

Business district

 

A view down the highway

 

In-game previewer view

 

Basketball arena/southside

 

Long view, the skyscraper is approx 960-1000m away

[Kubikus]

Still a lot of work to do but the first version of the distant terrain meshes are complete, the views are amazing, the pimps really done a nice job with this feature and big thanks to hal for getting the commands to us.

 

Business district

 

A view down the highway

 

In-game previewer view

 

Basketball arena/southside

 

Long view, the skyscraper is approx 960-1000m away

Looks gorgeous! And how did you do this:

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=949297625

 

? Is there a way to create hubs exactly like you want to, with placing prefabs and whatnot? If so, how does it work - and how did you figure that out??

[Tin]

Still a lot of work to do but the first version of the distant terrain meshes are complete, the views are amazing, the pimps really done a nice job with this feature and big thanks to hal for getting the commands to us.

 

Business district

 

A view down the highway

 

In-game previewer view

 

Basketball arena/southside

 

Long view, the skyscraper is approx 960-1000m away

 

I am seeing a lot of rendering issues in your pics. Is that caused from trying to make it fit in the game world? or is it just from the pics themselves? Either way looks sweet!

[Slaan]

Looks gorgeous! And how did you do this:

 

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=949297625

 

? Is there a way to create hubs exactly like you want to, with placing prefabs and whatnot? If so, how does it work - and how did you figure that out??

 

The custom hub layout code at the bottom of the rwgmixer has a few example of how to manually place streets (roads) and prefabs/prefab lots and you can always download the project itself to see what I've done in the mixer. The short answer is yes but the custom hub layout is causing errors and cannot be used ingame, this may or may not be fixed in future but until it does the only way to get away with the 'prefab grid' technique is in navezgane atm.

[Slaan]

I am seeing a lot of rendering issues in your pics. Is that caused from trying to make it fit in the game world? or is it just from the pics themselves? Either way looks sweet!

 

distant terrain is overwriting the prefab meshes and still looks a little wonky in places, it's a lot easier to pick up on when your flying around but down at ground level the skyline is stunning, you can start to appreciate just how many buildings there is when you can see 4-5 streets from the window of the house your looting.

 

Getting it to work well with sleepers and play nice is an ambitious task but it already looks awesome from the ground when your running around or travelling the highway, it's huge how much more immersive the city feels when you can see a massive wedge of it from higher vantage points.

[Kubikus]

The custom hub layout code at the bottom of the rwgmixer has a few example of how to manually place streets (roads) and prefabs/prefab lots and you can always download the project itself to see what I've done in the mixer. The short answer is yes but the custom hub layout is causing errors and cannot be used ingame, this may or may not be fixed in future but until it does the only way to get away with the 'prefab grid' technique is in navezgane atm.

Ah ok.. Yeah I know how it worked before, actually I had, several alphas ago, used your files as a tutorial to get into it.

 

I thought you had found a way to make what worked in A15 work in A16.. I guess you only used the previewer to get the preview, but it does not work ingame, and to get it ingame, you used a tool to spawn the buildings..?

[Slaan]

I currently have the hub sitting in navesgane, I'm not sure if it's gonna be possible to put it back into random gen at this point in a neat and tidy way. I'll make something available by the end of the experimental period, the project is in a state of flux atm while I consider a bunch of different options.

 

The previewer seems to work fine, throws us a bone of hope that there's a bug elsewhere which could end up being fixed.

[Kubikus]

I currently have the hub sitting in navesgane, I'm not sure if it's gonna be possible to put it back into random gen at this point in a neat and tidy way. I'll make something available by the end of the experimental period, the project is in a state of flux atm while I consider a bunch of different options.

 

The previewer seems to work fine, throws us a bone of hope that there's a bug elsewhere which could end up being fixed.

I suspect the world generator demands to have the new code, have a look:

 

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?64530-Custom-hub-no-longer-possible-(-(-))&p=660536&viewfull=1#post660536

 

I have not tried, maybe if you have the street_gen-stuff in, you can even place roads and prefabs as pre-A16. I doubt it though.

[Slaan]

I suspect the world generator demands to have the new code, have a look:

 

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?64530-Custom-hub-no-longer-possible-(-(-))&p=660536&viewfull=1#post660536

 

I have not tried, maybe if you have the street_gen-stuff in, you can even place roads and prefabs as pre-A16. I doubt it though.

 

That thread was an interesting read, should have known stompy would know what that gibberish meant but it does open up possibilities for sure tho im not so sure I could bend it to my will enough to make it work with prefabs 117 x 117 that are required to be laid out in a certain way or llook terrible.

[Slaan]

Ok so a quick progress update as 16 is now stable.

 

We probably won't be enjoying custom hubs in RWG till at least A17, if ever. If you know better or are more informed I beg you to speak up. I've read mixed posts all over hinting that It's probably just slipped under the radar and coupled with the fact the previewer works fine with them I am still feeling optimistic this may be addressed in future but until I know otherwise I'm gonna focus on slow boating through the city a section at a time, painting, touching up and adding sleepers etc.

 

Navezgane is now the only place you will be able to test/play with the whole city, the socket system can easily handle the prefabs but there is no way to organise them together and as stand alone prefabs they look a little off to say the least, once the hub nears completion and if random gen compatibility is still missing maybe I'll work on some kind of way to make the hub look better there. I take no responsibility for the terrible terrain clipping

 

It's rather annoying as with a few exceptions A16 was gonna make things perfect and I can see how bloody awesome it looks just from the meshes in the previewer, tho I do guess it's not a proper mod project unless something doesn't work right .

 

I'm almost comfortable with the way I'm set on doing the sleepers, once I have around 15-20 sections done I'll release something people can have a mess around with, you won't be disappointed... well once you get over the fact your not in random gen anyway.

 

It's pretty weird as I kinda wanna be angry, but things are just so much better now... it's not fair

[Slaan]

Sleepers in action

 

[Slaan]

New blog

[Pille]

Very nice blog Slaan.

 

I hoped that I could use Slaanhatten for my upcoming server but there is one small problem: "City Hub Status – 10% complete…" ^^

What do think? How long will it take to complete the city?

Edited July 15, 2017 by Pille (see edit history)

[Slaan]

With no certain guarantee we'll get it back into random gen I've no intentions on rushing anything. I'd rather invest some time into patching the compo pack prefabs up as that will be the main injection of custom POI's into most servers for a while I imagine.

 

I've a lot on my plate the next couple weeks but have a LOT of spare time come the start of August, like two to three weeks of spare time. I'd like to think I can have the majority of the sections face-lifted by then or during that period. Once I'm at the halfway mark I'll release what I have with a prefab xml for navezgane so people can give it a spin and get the feedback rolling in.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

A thing worth mentioning tho, there are about 25-30 sections of city that are just place-holder terrain/empty spots ready to be built on. They require 0 work to bring up to date. So the 10 of 102 prefabs is really more like 10/70 which even when you consider their size, is not tooo massive a job.

[Pille]

Thanks Slaan. I have to wait then.^^ Hopefully, you never lose your motivation.

[Slaan]

Thanks Slaan. I have to wait then.^^ Hopefully, you never lose your motivation.

 

I've been waiting a while to bring some areas to completion, things like the sewer area in the video were left empty mainly because there was no way to bring the challenge into them and they end up being easy places for people to live out of right next to all the loots in the city.

 

Now I don't want to have to re-visit any of the old areas after this conversion process unless it's to add some funky stuff or further improve the 'dungeon' areas. I have a massive back log of ideas that have only recently became possible (or worth the effort) and I'm itching te get into the empty areas and fill them with some love.

 

Motivation has never been higher, even with the custom hub issues. Sleepers I believe, really are that good and they really do bring some of the dull areas to life/undeath/whatever.

[Laz Man]

Love the video slaan. The sleepers will bring slaanhatten to life.

[wolverine576]

Been following/test/playing Slaanhatten for a long time. I love the Huge city. I cant wait to see it drawn in distant poi. I hated in pre a16 how the game was limited on how far the chunks would load. I watched your vid, read your blog, the blog was great, loved the story telling! Cant wait to see what the future hols for our favorite massively Large city!

[Kaiser502]

So far this is the best, love roaming the city, If this had a threesome it could be considered 7D2D Beta.1.

That is if Slaanhatten made a baby with Compopack 26, and Vals complete overhaul. That would be a dream come true.

 

Would also put three forge slots with the vr12 forge menu. This is on my christmass list. I am looking into learning modding thanks to you Valmer and Hal. Skippy help to after watching some of his utube vids. Keep up the great work.

[Slaan]

Can confirm upwards of 85 sleeper volumes in a single prefab working fine...

 

[Slaan]

After speaking to some of our local players and a couple of friends who've been watching the vids, there's a few things I feel I should explain as the end result will not be super concentrated zombies over every inch of the city.

 

It's a city. That means it has to at least look like 10,000+ people lived there. This also means that there should be around 10,000+ corpses or zombies too. Stop complaining, in alpha 15 we had none.

 

Game stage modifiers are set to hard and will slowly decline to easy the closer to the edges of the city you get. The stucco housing that makes up the edges in the south as an example, can still potentially have a decent amount of sleepers, but those low value loot areas will be a lot less troublesome than what you've seen so far.

 

Once you get so far into the city, I am actively trying to kill you to death with every step you take. Every single area is being assessed and I will shamelessly drop ferals in that area with lots of loot or whatever else I feel should stand in your way without hesitation. People soaked up starvation, valmod and other packs simply because it was hard, well welcome to the concrete jungle ladies...

 

A testing version will be out sooner rather than later, leave your hand bags at home tho, slaanhatten is now about the challenge of simply being there and I will upscale looting and access to the point people feel it's worth it rather than tone down the difficulty.

 

Ofc when Gertle heights and a party of a few players drop the server to it's knees I may have to address the spawning, but so far with some thought, most sleepers are not active until they need to be so performance is not too bad surprisingly.

[stallionsden]

After speaking to some of our local players and a couple of friends who've been watching the vids, there's a few things I feel I should explain as the end result will not be super concentrated zombies over every inch of the city.

 

It's a city. That means it has to at least look like 10,000+ people lived there. This also means that there should be around 10,000+ corpses or zombies too. Stop complaining, in alpha 15 we had none.

 

Game stage modifiers are set to hard and will slowly decline to easy the closer to the edges of the city you get. The stucco housing that makes up the edges in the south as an example, can still potentially have a decent amount of sleepers, but those low value loot areas will be a lot less troublesome than what you've seen so far.

 

Once you get so far into the city, I am actively trying to kill you to death with every step you take. Every single area is being assessed and I will shamelessly drop ferals in that area with lots of loot or whatever else I feel should stand in your way without hesitation. People soaked up starvation, valmod and other packs simply because it was hard, well welcome to the concrete jungle ladies...

 

A testing version will be out sooner rather than later, leave your hand bags at home tho, slaanhatten is now about the challenge of simply being there and I will upscale looting and access to the point people feel it's worth it rather than tone down the difficulty.

 

Ofc when Gertle heights and a party of a few players drop the server to it's knees I may have to address the spawning, but so far with some thought, most sleepers are not active until they need to be so performance is not too bad surprisingly.

 

DUDE Slaanhatten was awesome A15 and prior. A16 Slanhatten has become awesome :-) I totally 100% agree a city should be near death type experience to get thru. the 10000+ should be a actual thing at minimum.

 

I def wouldn't tone it down because people forgot their nappies or a spare pair of undies. increase the sleepers and zs as much as you like to your liking. def tho think you should add a hell of a lot of zs and sleepers to the sewers tho. however you kill them they are gone unless you get a stray here or there. Because I am one of those that do use them to move about the city a lot lol. But would like what you have proposed as reality you would get stray zs coming down to the sewers even an occasional horde/herd. where you either fight or flight.

 

Keep up the great work Mate and here is to a near impossible city full of zs to get to.

[Laz Man]

After speaking to some of our local players and a couple of friends who've been watching the vids, there's a few things I feel I should explain as the end result will not be super concentrated zombies over every inch of the city.

 

It's a city. That means it has to at least look like 10,000+ people lived there. This also means that there should be around 10,000+ corpses or zombies too. Stop complaining, in alpha 15 we had none.

 

Game stage modifiers are set to hard and will slowly decline to easy the closer to the edges of the city you get. The stucco housing that makes up the edges in the south as an example, can still potentially have a decent amount of sleepers, but those low value loot areas will be a lot less troublesome than what you've seen so far.

 

Once you get so far into the city, I am actively trying to kill you to death with every step you take. Every single area is being assessed and I will shamelessly drop ferals in that area with lots of loot or whatever else I feel should stand in your way without hesitation. People soaked up starvation, valmod and other packs simply because it was hard, well welcome to the concrete jungle ladies...

 

A testing version will be out sooner rather than later, leave your hand bags at home tho, slaanhatten is now about the challenge of simply being there and I will upscale looting and access to the point people feel it's worth it rather than tone down the difficulty.

 

Ofc when Gertle heights and a party of a few players drop the server to it's knees I may have to address the spawning, but so far with some thought, most sleepers are not active until they need to be so performance is not too bad surprisingly.

 

Thats one seriously awesome vision. I know people love higher risk / higher reward areas. Let me know if you need any custom prefabs to add. Im almost done with my mcdowells restaurant and will be looking for my next project.

[Slaan]

DUDE Slaanhatten was awesome A15 and prior. A16 Slanhatten has become awesome :-) I totally 100% agree a city should be near death type experience to get thru. the 10000+ should be a actual thing at minimum.

 

I def wouldn't tone it down because people forgot their nappies or a spare pair of undies. increase the sleepers and zs as much as you like to your liking. def tho think you should add a hell of a lot of zs and sleepers to the sewers tho. however you kill them they are gone unless you get a stray here or there. Because I am one of those that do use them to move about the city a lot lol. But would like what you have proposed as reality you would get stray zs coming down to the sewers even an occasional horde/herd. where you either fight or flight.

 

Keep up the great work Mate and here is to a near impossible city full of zs to get to.

 

 

There's been some genuine worry about the way I've set about dropping sleepers in, but other than the impacts of such large volumes making our server die, more is much more preferable to less as things can easily be tweaked later on. There's a lot of effort going into testing (working nice in local MP) and the sleeper volumes have been re-done probably 5-6 times now as I try different things and do my best to keep unnecessary spawning as low as possible.

 

The difficulty modifiers are quite deceiving in some ways, at level 1 your getting spawns that you typically wont see till 20+ and the difference between that and level 1 spawning is rather drastic. By level 50, your used to being abused with multiple ferals/radiated zombies and the hub is gonna spit level 70ish spawning at you, but the difference then is not so drastic and hopefully you have some kit/perks and more importantly a level head, panicing and doing a mad dash through unexplored areas is gonna make your day rather painful. More methodical room to room clearing like a pro and taking your time is a sure way to success, ofc when 4 ferals just burst out of the front door your knackered... but even then, that never used to happen so I welcome the fact people need to be aware of whats going on or their chances of death increase.

 

Thats one seriously awesome vision. I know people love higher risk / higher reward areas. Let me know if you need any custom prefabs to add. Im almost done with my mcdowells restaurant and will be looking for my next project.

 

The days of having a quick drive thru the city and seeing it all in a day are long gone, mapping out and finding the loot just in gertle heights alone is gonna take a handful of visits, a sack of ammo and two dozen of your best spiked clubs.

 

Good builds will always have a home, heck even the bad ones as long as they fit in. I don't think you've got a prefab that I didn't use and before you bring up the galleria, it has a spot i just never got round to doing that particular area so it's on the to-do list lol.

[Guppycur]

Can you make a quick video of you applying spawn volumes using pilles and explain how it works as you go? I feel like I am making stuff up, and you are likely the for most expert right now.