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Developer Discussions: Alpha 17


Roland

Developer Discussions: Alpha 17  

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  1. 1. Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

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Hey Skippy,

 

...at first glance it appeared that it would have some solid performance benefits and no major inconsistencies from the previous version.

LOL. That sounds about right. EVery programmer knows that feeling. "Yeah, i'm sure this will be fine... We will just make this one small adjustment here... oh OH NO! OH CRAP!!! MAYDAY MAYDAY MA*(&*(blrup(*)(I" *signal lost*

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Yes, but who did they hire? One programmer I know of, Fataal. The rest seem to have been designers (please correct me if you have better info). Designers that produced about 70 POIs in this one year which if I remember correctly someone said that is the same amount that they produced in all the years before(?). This does look more like they switched from making more and more features to getting more story and content in.

 

I usually take the programming perspective as well, but reading this reminded me that there is allot of grinding to do as far as story goes. I don't know what they've written or how extensive this quest system could be. Based on things mentioned by MM a long time ago https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?74084-Developer-Diary-Alpha-17!!!&p=744404#post744404

They could've added a bunch of characters and some serious storyline which, when written well, takes allot of time and adds allot of ... something important... to the game

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How about instead of them spawning in a ring around her have them spawn behind her in a cone or half ring?

 

Would that not make them always spawn outside your base?

 

Hope this makes sense

 

I think my previous idea about how to make it so screamers can`t spawn zombies inside a base wasn`t understood so i made some paintings in paint to illustrate. They are quite crude but i think easy to understand.

Blue big circle is screamer spawn radius, red is player and the small blue one is the screamer. this is basically how it works now.

2025465172_Screamerspawnnow.jpg.7c6f66baf29abdc140facc8ced05a1d7.jpg

 

This picture shows a different way of spawning. Instead of in a circle around the screamer they are spawned inside a half circle behind the screamer. Darn just realized this would only fix the issue if the screamer was walking towards your base but it wouldn`t fix it (and make it worse) if you were going to your base and the screamer sees you.

45229615_Screamerspawncone(halfcircle)behindscreamer.jpg.0c29f945e9b8d0b37edd199b8c9879bb.jpg

 

but hey maybe someone can use this to think of a better idea.

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Good points...

 

But if a screamer calls in a wondering hoard, you already know the full extend of what will happen and the strategy to follow. You take out the screamer, and wait for the hoard and kill that.

 

The current system makes you panic! It's different every time, and the screamer may even get to call in zombies 2 or even 3 times before you kill her.

 

I'm not saying that the current system is perfect... Far from it... But let's not take away from it, in trying to fix it ;)

 

Yeah that does raise a legitimate issue. If the screamer were to spawn/attract [relatively] distant zombies instead of pulling them out of thin air in extremely close proximity, the odds of her surviving until the others get close are going go down drastically. And that means the odds of spawning a second or third wave and making things get interesting also go down.

 

There's always something.

 

Edit: Unless maybe she gives them all the ability to run for 10 seconds. =)

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It sort of makes sense for them to spawn behind you if they also spawn in front of you, especially if the screamer has quite a range on her voice. I do like the idea of it attracting the attention of a wandering horde though. I've never liked the mechanic that the wandering horde uses to orient itself when it spawns. If you're not paying attention, at any time you're outside, you can turn around and 20 some zombies are on your face without making a peep. The idea of sound affecting the orientation of the wandering horde is pretty good though. It makes sense, and it feels more natural. Especially since the horde keeps on moving in a straight line if none of them even agro on you.

 

The wandering horde could be kept in the world 100% of the time. Could even do a few of them as long as you keep them from merging by keeping them spaced miles apart. You would not need to run them as AI once they are in normal despawn-range. Despawn the actors, but keep a representative location that moves around over time based on loud noises and other activity, plus some random factors. Once they are in range of a player, spawn the actors (maybe even save their states so it's not a total refresh of the horde), and make them walk toward the noises.

 

If a player is just standing there not doing anything to be noticed, then no obvious spawn on your face wandering horde happens unless they actually just happen to be going your way.

 

Also make them louder...

 

This idea is quite good. it would fix them spawning inside your base if a screamer sees you and it would leave surprises all over the map.

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LOL. That sounds about right. EVery programmer knows that feeling. "Yeah, i'm sure this will be fine... We will just make this one small adjustment here... oh OH NO! OH CRAP!!! MAYDAY MAYDAY MA*(&*(blrup(*)(I" *signal lost*

 

Yep, about ten minutes ago. I'm doing procedurally generated buildings... one small change can have a HUGE impact.

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I thought about my last post and it reminded me. When I played Ultima Online, you bought a house placement deed. It was for a specific x,z size and automatically covered you for Y.

 

Say it was 18X18, you click deed and target land, if it were placeable, you got a solid picture, and hit mouse to place. It would flatten land and place a dirt foundation, nothing could spawn without owner permission. similar to the trader area tag.

And no other foundation could be placed within a specific amount of tiles. "Until Demolition"

 

If it were on uneven land with obstructions it wouldn't fully appear before placement.

 

If the LCB or Sleeping bag were as an icon, and when ready to be placed, took the same white box form used when planting.

But set according to admin claim size. the base perimiter should accomplish, all the goals. 1 area of protection, for nonspawning, no multiplacement within a specific distance. But walls and defenses still follow game rule.

 

This way you would also physically see the actual coverage area.

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QUESTIONS..to whom it may concern. …not sure if this is for MADMOLE, FAATAL, or OTHER

 

1-Can the spot lights be made to adhere to an angled block? Edited for stupidity!! I would like them to be able to be placed on a vertical face. Pretty much everything else can be put on a vertical face...to point down..Those industrial lights just don't have enough light unless you have 50 of them.

 

2-I am still trying to understand the BEDROLL stopping spawn in a POI, once it is placed...as of now...it doesn't. I have setup camp in a city and taken over 2 buildings at opposite ends of a block. One is my base and the other is a horde night base....I am playing with 2 people ..he has placed his bedroll and landclaims in the Base building and we get ZERO zombies spawning. I on the other hand have placed my bedroll in the HORDE base and every time we sign on their are at least 3-4 zombies in the HORDE base.

 

So my question is why do they spawn in one and not the other? Why cant they act like a land claim?? And not stop protection an area when signed off?

 

I do agree NOT making the land claims stop zombie spawn, otherwise people will be placing them everywhere to stop the Zs from spawning. Why cant a bedroll be given a 20x 20 x 20 for example .. No spawn radius as a constant in game? Or have it set in the server xml like the land claim size is??

 

3- Will gun turrets be able to be rotated and placed upside down too? or even on angle ramp blocks....if you have a ramp up to a drawbridge for example? The dart traps would be affected by this as well.

 

4- What ever happened to the fire traps we saw sketches of with the propane tanks ??

 

5- While Im at it...when water is finally "fixed" ..will we be able to pour gas into a ditch or trench and set it on fire??

 

6- Night vision doesn't work while looking through the scope.

 

7- Can we have the spotlights have colored lenses....asking for a friend.

 

Coughs * VIDEO * Coughs

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Hey Ouch

 

You can place turrets upside down as it is. There is a vid of Cap00 on Youtube doing it for his Bridge Base. I don't think that's changing for A17.

 

However, I don't know if the turret can aim perfectly vertical. Will be testing this next time I get into game.

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The bedroll system to stop zombie spawns has been broken for a while as far as I know.

 

I've never had any trouble, and in A15-16, my first base is in a POI until about day 35. I play on a server, and I see no new zombies when I log on.

 

Ouch's problems have perplexed me.

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Hey Ouch

 

You can place turrets upside down as it is. There is a vid of Cap00 on Youtube doing it for his Bridge Base. I don't think that's changing for A17.

 

However, I don't know if the turret can aim perfectly vertical. Will be testing this next time I get into game.

 

Just looked and you can only rotate them on one axis....8 directions..thats it...…you also CANNOT move them once placed....weren't we able to pick them up at one time

 

 

MTFGA

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

I've never had any trouble, and in A15-16, my first base is in a POI until about day 35. I play on a server, and I see no new zombies when I log on.

 

Ouch's problems have perplexed me.

 

I have several ...but lets just concentrate on the zombie /Bedroll spawn one.....lol

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2-I am still trying to understand the BEDROLL stopping spawn in a POI, once it is placed...as of now...it doesn't. I have setup camp in a city and taken over 2 buildings at opposite ends of a block. One is my base and the other is a horde night base....I am playing with 2 people ..he has placed his bedroll and landclaims in the Base building and we get ZERO zombies spawning. I on the other hand have placed my bedroll in the HORDE base and every time we sign on their are at least 3-4 zombies in the HORDE base.

 

So my question is why do they spawn in one and not the other? Why cant they act like a land claim?? And not stop protection an area when signed off?

 

Coughs * VIDEO * Coughs

 

Are you the only two on the server? Could someone else have entered the base while you were offline? Bedrolls only prevent zed spawning when the *owner* is currently logged in.

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I've never had any trouble, and in A15-16, my first base is in a POI until about day 35. I play on a server, and I see no new zombies when I log on.

 

Ouch's problems have perplexed me.

 

It doesn't happen every time which makes it very hard to track down. I've never had a problem but then space is at a premium within my walls so there are never any unaltered ground blocks inside.

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The current problem, as has been pointed out, is that although the screamer is not allowed to spawn within range of the player the zombies she calls do not have such a restriction. The called zombies are spawned around the screamer and, if like me, you're a terrible shot and have to wait for her to get close to kill her the called zombies can sometimes spawn behind you.

 

So, what is the problem with this? Is there some objection to the player seeing zombies get to their feet? I see that happen lots when I'm out exploring.

 

I really like the screamers (apart from their frequency at times), and the hordes they spawn are fun.

 

I basically 'farm' screamers. I keep her alive until I've got 3 screams out of her, and I run around meleeing the Z's she calls.

What gets really interesting is when she calls other screamers, and you can have 3 or more 'active' screamers all adding to the frenzy. Still fairly easy, until you get the running Z's who are on top of you so quickly.

 

If you want to re-work hordes, then I'd target the linear straight line hordes. They are just a gift if you can come up behind them you can pick them off one by one with minimal risk. Might be different if they reacted more to the players presence or sound or smell.

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So, what is the problem with this? Is there some objection to the player seeing zombies get to their feet? I see that happen lots when I'm out exploring.

 

When you know the area behind you is clear having a zombie spawn and attack without warning is more annoying than fun, it's a zombie not a displacer beast.

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`

Are you the only two on the server? Could someone else have entered the base while you were offline? Bedrolls only prevent zed spawning when the *owner* is currently logged in.

 

Negative---my server....yes I know about that...what I am saying is that it shouldn't stop when logged off ...you should be able to set a decay time like the land claim...

 

In any type of survival game, you are going to clear and take over an existing building before actually...if EVER... building your own place. so if you secure it and place a bedroll...zombies should not continue to spawn in said area.

 

 

Coughs * VIDEO * Coughs

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So, what is the problem with this? Is there some objection to the player seeing zombies get to their feet? I see that happen lots when I'm out exploring.

 

When you know the area behind you is clear having a zombie spawn and attack without warning is more annoying than fun, it's a zombie not a displacer beast.

 

Then they should appear with a "clawing their way out of the ground" animation. That would be fitting to the genre, atmospheric, and also avoid the "but I cleared the area, so where did they come from" problem.

 

It would also add to the game lore - the cries of screamers are actively animating new zombies from previously inert and buried corpses.

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Then they should appear with a "clawing their way out of the ground" animation. That would be fitting to the genre, atmospheric, and also avoid the "but I cleared the area, so where did they come from" problem.

 

It would also add to the game lore - the cries of screamers are actively animating new zombies from previously inert and buried corpses.

 

I would be down for this^ as well. Even have them dig out when you come across a graveyard. or have a lot of mini graves and mass grave sites decorating the biomes.

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That's pretty much my point. The idea that the game should have no "safe" way to play by eliminating solid strategies....

 

There is where your argument falls apart for two reason. First, for a survival game YES, having no "safe" way to play should be a goal of the developers. Second, dig down 5 blocks and build is NOT a "strategy". But if you do that then you are 100% safe forever in A16.

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