Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

[Xtrakicking]

So I have a question, what happened to the lockpicking mechanic? Has it been dropped, or is it still planned? Cause it was mentioned during A16 development and we haven't heard anything about it ever since.

 

Sorry if unrelated to the topics at hand, btw. Just remembered while watching madmole's gameplay.

[Anabella]

Link me to it. I missed Laz's post.

 

BTW....it's not A spider meme. It is THE spider meme, posted by Laz Man, depicting a spider zombie sniffing a huge hunk of meat held by the player and saying that it smells like A17 with all previous alphas crossed off the list. It's pretty specific and cheap imitations won't do.

 

Neither will questionable sources. Gotta come from Laz.

 

How did you miss it? I was huge and quite lovely in that strange 7 days to die way.

[Jimmy_James]

Here's what I think. I think that this game design could work in a different game that isn't 7 Days to Die. Like in Days Gone for example (

) you wouldn't expect to get loot off these zombies. But this is an entirely different design direction and game mechanic dynamic than 7 Days. I think having some reward structure for horde nights is important in the bigger picture of the 7 Days to Die design case.

 

Holy...,they are everywhere. The end is funny... I don’t know why you need a big amount of reward after horde night. Something useful would be fair enough. And the horde nights are still a lot of fun (sometimes)

 

And to not worry about glitching corpse and loot.

[eidobunny]

Holy...,they are everywhere. The end is funny... I don’t know why you need a big amount of reward after horde night. Something useful would be fair enough. And the horde nights are still a lot of fun (sometimes)

 

And to not worry about glitching corpse and loot.

 

Because games are structured via challenge and reward. In a game like Days Gone, the reward is that you get to the next level, or you see the next cutscene, and you get to the next challenge. In 7 Days to Die, it's a sandbox game, so if there's no reward then there's no reason to engage the challenge. There needs to be a reward specific to the challenge or players will learn to just skip the challenge. I can tell you right now, if it's the case that there is little to no loot on horde nights in A17, I will be riding my minibike around instead of fighting, and I won't like it.

[Deceiver101]

the kiwis are fighting now , we cant add another one to the equation , maybe mmmmm , a release date to be next Friday for streamers and 3 days later for us ?

 

I would rather have them scrap A17, move on to A18 and release it 2020 as long as we get another kiwi. It's a sacrifice I am willing to make on your behalf.

[Jimmy_James]

Because games are structured via challenge and reward. In a game like Days Gone, the reward is that you get to the next level, or you see the next cutscene, and you get to the next challenge. In 7 Days to Die, it's a sandbox game, so if there's no reward then there's no reason to engage the challenge. There needs to be a reward specific to the challenge or players will learn to just skip the challenge. I can tell you right now, if it's the case that there is little to no loot on horde nights in A17, I will be riding my minibike around instead of fighting, and I won't like it.

 

Just be patient for about 2 weeks (hopefully) and we both will see how horde night is going to be. If it’s nice and fair enough for you, come here and tell us. If it’s bad and gamebreaking for you, do the same.

 

Things are still changing until we get there. And things are changing during the experimental because of our feedback and bug reports.

It’s just a little bit to early to argument and point out our positions about something in the near future.

[Ouch Quit It]

Link me to it. I missed Laz's post.

 

BTW....it's not A spider meme. It is THE spider meme, posted by Laz Man, depicting a spider zombie sniffing a huge hunk of meat held by the player and saying that it smells like A17 with all previous alphas crossed off the list. It's pretty specific and cheap imitations won't do.

 

Neither will questionable sources. Gotta come from Laz.

 

page 1890.....I thought you are moderating this forum!!!

 

 

Ouch

 

 

Coughs * Release the Kracken * Coughs

 

[Star69]

I could care less if zombies drop loot. Most of my loot is obtained in boxes and dismantling poi's so the change to A17 really will not effect my game much....a little, but not much. However, I do see the reasoning about horde nights. A long time ago there was discussion about how to engage those people who leave at horde time or hide in their underground bunkers. Talk was about unique items, quality items, increased xp for those who played the horde night. Now, in A17, those that fight the horde night and those that sit in their underground lairs are equal....no incentive to fight the horde other than the fun and challenge of doing so. Now, for me, it's all about killing and making sure my base survives so I will always fight the horde. However, unfortunately, I think you will see many more people simply log off or just decide to mine rather than face the horde since there is no value other than fun of killing. So, frankly, I see both good and bad with this change. I can't wait to try it so I can give a better opinion on it. In the meantime, I see both sides points of views and it won't be decided until we actually get to play it.

[meganoth]

What does that tweet even mean.

 

They don't drop loot!

They do drop loot!

 

For example sentences that contradict each other can be used for humor or to show that you aren't consequent or that you don't follow logic.

 

My take of MMs use:

 

With the first sentence he is saying that his intention is to make zombies into the danger, not the loot bag. And therefore would like to eradicate zombie loot completely.

 

With his second sentence he is saying that even though he would like to rid them of loot completely he lets them have loot as a compromise. Maybe because some of the team argue for at least some loot, or because he thinks there are drawbacks to a strict no-loot policy and there is a golden middle.

[Kalex]

Link me to it. I missed Laz's post.

 

BTW....it's not A spider meme. It is THE spider meme, posted by Laz Man, depicting a spider zombie sniffing a huge hunk of meat held by the player and saying that it smells like A17 with all previous alphas crossed off the list. It's pretty specific and cheap imitations won't do.

 

Neither will questionable sources. Gotta come from Laz.

 

Post https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?74084-Developer-Diary-Alpha-17&p=838571&viewfull=1#post838571

 

Madmole....MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM....IT SMELLLLS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO00000000OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDD!!@@!!!!@@@!!@@@!!!

 

[Erik Louden]

Dude if you don't want to do it. Then don't do it. No one has you at gun point right now saying "Loot and skin those zombies or else!!!"

geeze

 

P.S. if it bothers you so much turn down the loot settings to 25%

 

I do play at 25% (and there is still too much).

 

And if you don't like it play at 200%

[Anabella]

I do play at 25% (and there is still too much).

 

And if you don't like it play at 200%

 

Dude I like the loot. I don’t complain that I am doing something I hate.

[Erik Louden]

Dude I like the loot. I don’t complain that I am doing something I hate.

 

Wasn't complaining, was describing why I like the change.

 

You're complaining about something that is not going to change before A17e is out.

[Roland]

Thanks to everyone for pointing me to the Spider Meme

 

Please return to your squabbling.

[eidobunny]

Just be patient for about 2 weeks (hopefully) and we both will see how horde night is going to be. If it’s nice and fair enough for you, come here and tell us. If it’s bad and gamebreaking for you, do the same.

 

Things are still changing until we get there. And things are changing during the experimental because of our feedback and bug reports.

It’s just a little bit to early to argument and point out our positions about something in the near future.

 

For sure, but I am doing what I think is right, and that's bringing it to everyone's attention as early as possible so we can start to think about these things. I'm building my case because I look at a system like this and think, "okay, this is good for the reasons the developers have outlined, but they seem to have either ignored or made - in my humble opinion - bad decisions regarding certain edge cases, like high-population multiplayer servers and risk vs reward on horde nights." My concerns could turn out to be unfounded and I would hope they would be, but that's not going to stop me from voicing my first impression of what the system is being described to us as.

[sillls]

I thought about it last night and real zombies would not be carrying a bunch of junk. If we all turned to zombies right now, what would we find in our pockets? Not much. Some people may have a backpack on with supplies they were carrying to bug out and then died and became a zombie, but not many.

 

The POIs contain the loot. Zombies block access. Kill/evade zombies to get at the loot. Yes, on your 100 dude server you would need to increase loot respawn or a bigger map, so you can drive farther to find stuff.

 

Bones from zombie corpses? Maybe corpses could stay around longer, it would look better, but on bloodmoons we remove oldest ones, so FPS does not tank? Would I really want to hack up zombies ever? Good way to get infected. I think more animals would be nice, to get bones and fat, with zombies killing them, so you need to thin out the zombie population to encourage more animals to survive, but if a zombie kills a boar, could you not just kill the zombie to loot the boar corpse? Lots of ways you can go with this.

 

Much testing and tweaking to go.

 

So are you planning to add something that allows the player to as you say "thin out" the zombies so more animals will spawn?

[Chancer0076]

WOW! I can feel the heat of the flaming and smell the aroma of entitlement from here...

 

And all this coming from people who paid 10 bucks for a game that they've got hundreds, and in many cases, thousands of hours of game-play. It is mind blowing some of the things I read on here from some people.

 

People banging on "video, video, video" and then lose their ♥♥♥♥♥ once it's released. The forum has got insane since the video dropped. Any wonder why MM hasn't been posting on here much lately?

 

Just wait until you've played it before you critique it. How about that?

 

Hell, even people whining about features "dropped from the game" when I'd read a post on the previous page clearly stating that it wasn't. If you're not going to wait until you play the new alpha before you criticize it AT LEAST read the posts that the devs and forum mods so kindly take the time to put up. So - much - wasted - whinging.

 

As TFP have stated, this is a game made for and developed by the community, which it is. Please remember that YOU ALONE are NOT the community. It includes many, many people. Just because you don't like something.... guess what? That doesn't matter. Many other people will welcome the changes... Stop being so selfish.

 

Personally I think I will love the new feel to the game and the extra content. Thank you TFP for your continued work, you are doing a stellar job in the face of all this.

 

And @Roland, you really do have the patience of a saint. You must be exhausted lol

 

And people criticizing MM's skills in the game... I guess he doesn't have a thousand hours logged on Steam. I wonder what else could be taking up all of his time?

 

Have some respect, people.

[Deceiver101]

So are you planning to add something that allows the player to as you say "thin out" the zombies so more animals will spawn?

 

I would love if there was a bait mechanic, where you can bait an object with raw food, but it only increases a chance of an animal spawning in the area. Also it runs the risk of drawing more zombies, dogs/vultures, bears/zombie bears, and other dangers due to additional animals potentially being in the area. Basically some sort of trade off to increasing animal populations in the area.

[eidobunny]

Funny how if nobody spoke their mind there wouldn't be a community at all

[Sakurambo]

A17-e rc?

[Roland]

For sure, but I am doing what I think is right, and that's bringing it to everyone's attention as early as possible so we can start to think about these things. I'm building my case because I look at a system like this and think, "okay, this is good for the reasons the developers have outlined, but they seem to have either ignored or made - in my humble opinion - bad decisions regarding certain edge cases, like high-population multiplayer servers and risk vs reward on horde nights." My concerns could turn out to be unfounded and I would hope they would be, but that's not going to stop me from voicing my first impression of what the system is being described to us as.

 

The devs are aware of the issues. They were discussing them today. They have a plan for bones and flesh and your fears about horde night rewards is unfounded. As Kinyajuu already said, loot is not going away just the delivery of it is changing. Horde night has it's own set of rules and they can make loot drops rare (as they are) for everyday zeds but common for bloodmoon zeds. You still have your right to voice your concerns...and you have. I think a lot of it is unfounded.

 

Except possibly in the case of highly populated servers. TFP designs to their supported numbers and for alternative unauthorized settings people are going to have to configure the balancing for themselves...at least during the development process where TFP really needs to stay focused on making their version of the game and not catering to a million and one alternative preferences.

[Roland]

A17-e rc?

 

Alpha 17 Experimental Release Candidate. That will go green as soon as I get confirmation that the streamers will be getting it for sure on the upcoming Friday.

[Roland]

Funny how if nobody spoke their mind there wouldn't be a community at all

 

We'd still all be batman though. That is the tie that binds.

[eidobunny]

The devs are aware of the issues. They were discussing them today. They have a plan for bones and flesh and your fears about horde night rewards is unfounded. As Kinyajuu already said, loot is not going away just the delivery of it is changing. Horde night has it's own set of rules and they can make loot drops rare (as they are) for everyday zeds but common for bloodmoon zeds. You still have your right to voice your concerns...and you have. I think a lot of it is unfounded.

 

Except possibly in the case of highly populated servers. TFP designs to their supported numbers and for alternative unauthorized settings people are going to have to configure the balancing for themselves...at least during the development process where TFP really needs to stay focused on making their version of the game and not catering to a million and one alternative preferences.

 

Thank you for the response Roland. I'm relieved to hear the developers have thought through these issues.

[Ayrton]

I still did not see anything about this, what happened from the wolves with armor? and the other concepts? At least something of this is true for the A17x?