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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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Roland,

 

Figuring that Joel really won't want to do any more videos, could the Question and Answers be started again? There are a lot of questions that members here talk about, wonder about this and that; maybe if he did that once a week it would help. We could have a idea of what is going on, what changes made that can be talked about, let us know what they are working on, bugs being fixed or planned to be fixed.

 

 

I know that there is talk here and on the youtubers channels of what to do about glue. Resin from trees, add pine cones and let players pick them up, find them in loot, trip over then in the forest; cook them in a pot in the chem station and skim off the resin, mix charcoal and you have glue. Simplified version of how Native American's made glue. We grow corn, grind it to cornstarch, add water and you have adhesive. Those are just two ways to make glue naturally that we can from what is already in the game.

]Anyhow, the Q&A would help keep the natives from going nuttier than they are.

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Well for starters when you decide mid development to rewrite the whole thing from scratch obviously means that mistakes were made concerning the game code in the first place.

 

That never happened. When they started the game they used lots of placeholders. Some features were just rudimentary versions they planned to get to later. Lots of art assets were just Unity store assets that you will recognize from Unity game to Unity game to Unity game. They have rewritten those placeholders with their own original code and art over time in order to make the game uniquely their own.

 

They have upgraded to newer versions of Unity a few times in order to take advantage of optimizations and better features offered by the newer versions but that does not equal rewriting everything from scratch and starting over. There are still recognizable aspect of 7 Days to Die from Alpha 5 back when I started.

 

And this leads to the next problem which is obviously a lack of clear direction in the development that means a realistic and achievable roadmap within a pre determined time margin.

 

I've seen the roadmap and it is clear and they have been working towards it all along. They have made cuts where they have felt it was unrealistic. Sticking to a pre-determined time margin is how you get crap for a game. Thank goodness they made enough money to be able to extend the development time and not bind themselves to a pre-determined time margin. Instead of time as their target they are using quality and awesomeness.

 

Now I cannot stress this enough I personally have no real issue with any of this but it is completely ridiculous to think that the development has gone smoothly over the years and that is understandable because tfp after all is an small developer with a single ambitious hit game and they just can't quite handle it.

 

It's completely ridiculous for anyone to believe that any project is going to develop without setbacks. However, what you misunderstand as deep problems is actually deliberate iterative and experimental development. They add things in stages and some things they add to experiment and see how it goes. To the casual observer it might seem like meaningless rewrites and lost direction. But the truth is that they are talented people, they do have a project manager, they follow a road map, and they are doing it in a time frame that works for them. It sounds like you actually do have an issue with early access as in you don't have the patience or the interest in it and all you really want is a bug free finished game to play.

 

And there is nothing inherently wrong about that. It would likely help if what is happening was conveyed to the masses in a regular fashion even if it's just news about problems and more problems and maybe even more problems. People understand problems...we all have problems.

 

There are no major problems. They had one which was communicated. That is behind them and they are fixing bugs every day.

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I know that there is talk here and on the youtubers channels of what to do about glue.

 

We already have a glue where we get glue :02.47-tranquillity: : Roland let slip that he found carcasses in a poi with bones in them.

 

Well for starters when you decide mid development to rewrite the whole thing from scratch obviously means that mistakes were made concerning the game code in the first place.

 

Did you notice that Prisma501 was talking hypothetically about a total rewrite?

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Roland,

 

Figuring that Joel really won't want to do any more videos, could the Question and Answers be started again? There are a lot of questions that members here talk about, wonder about this and that; maybe if he did that once a week it would help. We could have a idea of what is going on, what changes made that can be talked about, let us know what they are working on, bugs being fixed or planned to be fixed.

 

 

I know that there is talk here and on the youtubers channels of what to do about glue. Resin from trees, add pine cones and let players pick them up, find them in loot, trip over then in the forest; cook them in a pot in the chem station and skim off the resin, mix charcoal and you have glue. Simplified version of how Native American's made glue. We grow corn, grind it to cornstarch, add water and you have adhesive. Those are just two ways to make glue naturally that we can from what is already in the game.

]Anyhow, the Q&A would help keep the natives from going nuttier than they are.

 

I agree, it's done when it's done is totally cool with me, because I assume things will be done right.. But not knowing what's happening is a bit of a downer and hard to keep my enthousiasm up this way. I'm sure we will all be very happily surprised when it comes out eventually and I will always be a fan of this game. Good luck fixing all the bugs and with all the hard work the upcoming days TFP! :worked_till_5am:

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If we all can agree that running backwards during melee is way better.....

 

Nope, having trained in martial arts for many years I can tell you that fighting while retreating at speed is a definite way to fall over and get yourself killed. A fighting withdrawal MUST be done at a reasonable pace. From the first ever recorded example of the Spartans vs Xerxes to a modern stepped withdrawal, never has fighting while moving back at speed been a good idea.

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Roland,

 

Figuring that Joel really won't want to do any more videos, could the Question and Answers be started again? There are a lot of questions that members here talk about, wonder about this and that; maybe if he did that once a week it would help. We could have a idea of what is going on, what changes made that can be talked about, let us know what they are working on, bugs being fixed or planned to be fixed.

 

 

I know that there is talk here and on the youtubers channels of what to do about glue. Resin from trees, add pine cones and let players pick them up, find them in loot, trip over then in the forest; cook them in a pot in the chem station and skim off the resin, mix charcoal and you have glue. Simplified version of how Native American's made glue. We grow corn, grind it to cornstarch, add water and you have adhesive. Those are just two ways to make glue naturally that we can from what is already in the game.

]Anyhow, the Q&A would help keep the natives from going nuttier than they are.

 

You figured wrong. :)

 

He really won't want to do any more Q&A sessions but he likes making gameplay videos and plans to make another. Q&A takes a lot more time and almost always gravitates towards future features which I can just tell you right now Joel will just say, "Maybe after gold..." to everything. They are on top of issues surrounding reduced Zombie loot drops. It's only a new issue to you guys. They've had weeks and weeks to discuss balancing.

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Nope, having trained in martial arts for many years I can tell you that fighting while retreating at speed is a definite way to fall over and get yourself killed. A fighting withdrawal MUST be done at a reasonable pace. From the first ever recorded example of the Spartans vs Xerxes to a modern stepped withdrawal, never has fighting while moving back at speed been a good idea.

 

realism vs authenticity

 

people have this idea that games must be realistic to be fun. or that realism is always fun. this has never been the case.

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Just talked to the Huenink Brothers and they said it won't be this weekend starting Sept 7 for sure.

Joel said 0% chance it will be ready this week.

Rick said it would be "overly optimistic to get it out before the end of the month".

 

They are 100% fixing bugs and making sure all of the features work with each other. They know that the community wants it and they know that it has been longer than a year. They understand the frustration that is out there but they are not going to rush what they are doing.

 

Hmm.. maybe ill have to extent my honeymoon by a month? New York is crazy!

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Each quest has a rally marker at the POI that when activated resets that POI to be ready for the quest. So, yes, all player made changes will be erased if that marker is activated.

 

Obviously not a feature designed for players with bad etiquette playing MP. However, I’m pretty sure all quests are for level designed POIs so just avoid building in those and you should be fine.

 

So, even destroyed POIs can reset to their original state?

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Can we all just agree that the flashlight and beam were much cooler in A11?

 

No, we can't. I think the ones I have seen in A17 are much cooler looking. And if you are referring to how far the beams travel, then no, I still don't think A11 flashlight were better. Flashlight beams should not travel for kilometers thru buildings and solid ground.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Each quest has a rally marker at the POI that when activated resets that POI to be ready for the quest. So, yes, all player made changes will be erased if that marker is activated.

 

Obviously not a feature designed for players with bad etiquette playing MP. However, I’m pretty sure all quests are for level designed POIs so just avoid building in those and you should be fine.

 

 

So what you are saying is take over a POI as a base at your own risk of losing your base if a quest gets activated there.

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So what you are saying is take over a POI as a base at your own risk of losing your base if a quest gets activated there.

 

I think the burning question here is, "What is considered a quest POI?". I don't think that's something that we will know until we get our hands on A17.

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