Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

[Kitursa]

Aww No Gyro.. that's a shame.

It was shown in video #7 btw

I was kind of hoping to be able to wizz above roaming zombies on my way to and from dungeon points.

 

I was also envisaging asking for a spotlight / weapon fitting for it so one could be an eye-in-the-sky on zombie night. ^^

 

I've had this game for 3,5+ years now.. was starting to be brave with venturing out scavanging BUT A16 got me so scared with them dang sleeper zombies and wolves that I now only leave base under pain of death!

 

I'm an old lady.. my reflexes are slow and I risk a heart attack if I go anywhere near a structure.

[Samfisch]

A17 hin oder her hauptsache es kommt noch dieses jahr.

 

ein paar fragen oder wünsche hنtte ich noch.

 

1) wird es diesmal in 7d2d intro geben das wنre echt cool, ich finde es schade das in den letzten jahren bei Spielen die Intro weggelassen werden.

So ein Ingame intro wo ein bischen die geschichte erzنhlt wird wie die welt zerstِrt wurde ect. und schwups ist man mitten drin und fنngt an....

oder kleine hilftipps beim laden oder connecten...

 

2) Performence ich spiele schon auf etlichen servern, aber konnte nie richtig das vehicle benutzen das entweder der motor zu schnell für die welt oder zu viele spieler die karte erkunden und aufdecken.

Wird das problem immernoch bestehen? Kann man radom karten nicht vor generieren,weil in der karte Navezgane funktioniert es nur bei zufallsgeneirte katen gibts probleme.

 

3) wettersystem ich weis immer nicht was man tragen sollte da es nicht funktioniert, manmal friert man in der wüste obwohl ein feuer brennt wect. kann man das system nicht vereinfachen oder gar weg lassen.

 

4) Biome ich hoffe die biome werden ein wenig besser generiert als wie abstrakte kunst.

 

5) wankelde waffen im gürtel wenn man sie lنnger trنgt glitchen sie zur seite

 

6) fadenkreuz bei bogen und armbrust wنre nicht schlecht oder ein besseres zielsystem

 

momentan fنllt mir nix weiter ein das sind so die dinge die einen stِren und schon etlichen Alphas nicht behoben sind.

 

Googleübersetzer

A17 or not, the main thing is this year.

 

I still have a few questions or wishes.

 

1) this time it will be in 7d2d intro that would be really cool, I think it's a pity that in recent years in games the intro are omitted.

Such an ingame intro where a little bit the story is told how the world was destroyed ect. and schwups you are right in the middle and starts ....

or small help tips when loading or connecting ...

 

2) Performence I've been playing on several servers, but I've never been able to properly use the vehicle that either the engine is too fast for the world or too many players to explore and uncover the map.

Will the problem still exist? Can not generate radom cards before, because in the map Navezgane it works only with randomly generated katen there are problems.

 

3) weather system I always do not know what you should wear because it does not work, sometimes you freeze in the desert although a fire burns wect. you can not simplify the system or even leave it out.

 

4) Biome I hope the biome are generated a little better than abstract art.

 

5) wankelde weapons in the belt if you wear them longer glitches to the side

 

6) Crosshair at bow and crossbow would not be bad or a better target system

 

At the moment I can not think of any more. These are the things that bother you and that many alphas are not solved.

[Eihwaz]

1) Nein, zumindest nicht jetzt.

2) Jein, Karten sind komplett generiert deshalb sollten die Laags geringer sein; aber generell wirds wohl immer noch laagen.

3) Das neue Video von heute sagt "Ja" - ich lade noch eine dt. ـbersetzung hoch bei mir.

4) Es wurde auf jeden Fall überarbeitet und verنndert; mal gucken wie es aussieht.

5) Nicht das ich wüsste.

6) Nein, gibts nicht.

 

Für mehr Infos auf deutsch kannst du gerne auf meinem YT Kanal vorbeischauen "Eihwaz geht".

 

----- google -----

1) No, not at last.

2) Yes, cards are completely generated but that will always probably start.

3) Today's new video says "yes" - I'm still uploading a German translation.

4) It has definitely been revised and changed; Let's see what it looks like.

5) Not that I waste.

6) No, that's not possible.

[Menace312]

1) Nein, zumindest nicht jetzt.

2) Jein, Karten sind komplett generiert deshalb sollten die Laags geringer sein; aber generell wirds wohl immer noch laagen.

3) Das neue Video von heute sagt "Ja" - ich lade noch eine dt. ـbersetzung hoch bei mir.

4) Es wurde auf jeden Fall überarbeitet und verنndert; mal gucken wie es aussieht.

5) Nicht das ich wüsste.

6) Nein, gibts nicht.

 

Für mehr Infos auf deutsch kannst du gerne auf meinem YT Kanal vorbeischauen "Eihwaz geht".

 

----- google -----

1) No, not at last.

2) Yes, cards are completely generated but that will always probably start.

3) Today's new video says "yes" - I'm still uploading a German translation.

4) It has definitely been revised and changed; Let's see what it looks like.

5) Not that I waste.

6) No, that's not possible.

 

Huh, really had to brush off the old German lectures from high school there...

 

Still... Its kinda weird? Or maybe I'm just to rusty...

[Pico]

So....If at first level I decided to carry 18 feathers in stacks of 1 in the two bottom "encumbrance" rows of my backpack and nothing else, would that slow me to a crawl?

 

Yeah, and consider this... if you're carrying metal scrap, metal pipes, empty food cans, a weak club and a worn out pickaxe all in your encumberance slots they will slow you down, but if you scrap them all into the one scrap metal slot then you'll suddenly suffer less encumberance, despite still carrying the same volume of materials.

 

I expect there'll be a lot more scrapping going on before anything ever reaches the forge in A17.

 

I reckon early game will include strategies like this... make stone shovel... dig up clay... scrap stone shovel rather than retain for later use (simply to free up enc slots)

[Burakin]

At the rate people are getting banned this forum is swiftly feeling like a battle royale :-)

 

Been away for a bit. People being (mass-)banned now? That seems like a change...not sure thats for the good (though I imagine R's patience might run out/have run out cause you know...moderating is testing)

[Pico]

Things I noticed: ... (snip)

 

3. When you are moving slow while overencumbered , hands move too quickly.

 

Yeah, I noticed that. In my mind I equate it to having to take many smaller steps when encumbered, whereas when unencumbered you can take longer strides and cover more ground quickly.

 

It could be argued that they got the visual speed cue from the hands the wrong way around (should be moving slower, to match the slower 'scroll' of the environment), but I think it is something we'll easily adapt to with the faster hand-bob action to indicate we're struggling with the weight.

 

The fact that they thought to give a variable visual cue, besides just the crawling speed change is good.

 

If you think about the weightlifters in the Olympic games... they take small quick steps when they're battling under a mass. Big long strides would be lethal to them.

 

But slower travel and faster hand speed, yeah, it does seem a bit odd at first glance.

There are valid arguments to be made for either faster or slower hands when loaded up.

[Crater Creator]

Madmole does the take one to give one method of fighting but I don't do it that way. You probably won't either. Zombies are still a piece of cake to dodge.

 

Since you can't run* backwards anymore, I plan to try a 'strafing run' technique more often: run right past the zombie and land a hit on the way. My hope is that, even if the zombie can start an attack animation at any time, it still can't hit you if you're out of range at the point in their animation where damage is applied. There seem to be some animation bugs yet, so it's hard to tell in the videos.

 

 

* Before someone yells OMG WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE AN S KEY THEN, I said run, not walk.

 

[Burakin]

The comments about perks being temporarily unavailable when attributes get lowered made me think that a temporary (e.g. one game-day) debuff to all attributes might be a good death penalty.

 

It would be reasonably noob-friendly, since beginning characters won't have much to lose, so dying in the first day or two won't be too bad, but it would be a significant penalty to established characters who will lose higher level perks temporarily on death.

 

Works for me! Somehow you'r super resilient or taste bad or whatever so the zombies let of before actually killing you dead properly. Bit being ravaged to within an inch of your life - makes sense to need a little recoop time. Puts a penalty on death even for experienced players who can suffer the other issues without too much problems.

 

I play dead is dead so it's not a thing for me, but the idea makes sense.

[MidnightRook]

Awesome video MM...thanks for taking the time to show us. I am a little concerned about the mention that zombies on the ground that are not dead will continue to wiggle and move. It takes away the need for "double tap" ...the sudden surprise that a zed you thought you ended was not quite dead.

 

I would suggest perhaps that...they wiggle most of the time when they hit the ground...because that IS a neat effect...but on occasion they will play dead for a moment...this would cause the wiggle on the ground zombies to lull us into thinking we know when something is down or not and when they do get up it will be even more surprising.

 

Just a thought...I hate to criticize things I haven's experienced yet, and I hate to offer criticism without suggestion to support it. Other than that I LOVE the new perks and that whole system...I can really see you guys building this for modular support on expansion of ideas. I just love you guys!

 

*Ahem* Please support the People's Legion of Panties for Peace and add clothing slots for undies!! Peace!

[The Gronk]

Been away for a bit. People being (mass-)banned now? That seems like a change...not sure thats for the good (though I imagine R's patience might run out/have run out cause you know...moderating is testing)

 

A lot of people are feeling frustrated, unfortunately not everyone knows how to deal with such feelings well.

 

You've missed some quite epic rants where people swear that they're going to delete the game, wipe their hard drive, hammer nails into their motherboard, burn their house down and ruin TFP with an epic anti-marketing campaign. Usually they just leave a bad review on steam and that's it.

[beerfly]

A lot of people are feeling frustrated, unfortunately not everyone knows how to deal with such feelings well.

 

You've missed some quite epic rants where people swear that they're going to delete the game, wipe their hard drive, hammer nails into their motherboard, burn their house down and ruin TFP with an epic anti-marketing campaign. Usually they just leave a bad review on steam and that's it.

 

It is the equivalent of sending angry mail ot the support in the late 90`s. Kids these days live their lives in sort of evolved way. With anger involved which is as useless as before.

 

Hm. Don`t mind them guys.

[spud42]

MM said zombies dont stun, the stay down perk says stun chance? did i miss something? or is stun being used in different contexts here?

 

not that i care i dont use a club ,ever. my preferred melee weapon is an AK-47 or a 9mm SMG if i dont have an AK-47..

[beerfly]

Would be lovely to see a change log release at the time of the streamer release. You know, for us commons

:

 

Fingers crossed !

[PurgatoryWolf]

Smell could maybe work similar to a character carrying a light source maybe. Just simply give them a buff for smell if they are carrying food not in cans? maybe the more you have the more you smell? rather then trying to adjust smell based on specific foods.

[Bubo]

Good loot comes from quests now...

 

Thanks for the earlier reply.

 

So, about quests.. will we earn any points from quests?

[meganoth]

Yes, and of course I know it's for A17 and not the actual release, but typically TFP do a great job in polishing up each alpha release so I'd think stuff like that might get polished out, either disabled or removed if it's just a broken option that doesn't do anything, but we'll find out once A17 drops! :3

 

If it is in the menue it is a small incentive to implement it before release because removing it is also work (even if minimal). If it is polished away they might subconsciously equate it with a dropped feature.

 

You probably don't want this.

 

If its free to the player to decide, I would expect almost noone waiting then. As the player would then waste "skilled up time" for no reward.

Most people try to play the optimal route...

 

For me its more about an idea to have beginner not get overloaded with decisions about skilling up (that they cant do in an informed way)

And also giving a reward to have survived the first week (being excited to be allowed to skill up).

 

A beginner will still be a beginner after playing an in-game week. People learn by mistakes and experiment. It isn't neccessary for a game with replay value to guide you to a perfect first run.

[meganoth]

I've had this game for 3,5+ years now.. was starting to be brave with venturing out scavanging BUT A16 got me so scared with them dang sleeper zombies and wolves that I now only leave base under pain of death!

 

I'm an old lady.. my reflexes are slow and I risk a heart attack if I go anywhere near a structure.

 

May I suggest always having a blunderbuss or shotgun in the belt with you. If you think you are in trouble, keep everything with bad breath at distance with it. It is easy to hit them with a shotgun even in the heat of battle.

 

Thanks for the earlier reply.

 

So, about quests.. will we earn any points from quests?

 

Info from TFP was that quests don't give skill points anymore and there is a fixed amount of skill points available. You have to specialize, either be the best in only some skills or mediocre in all.

[FM2009]

MM said zombies dont stun, the stay down perk says stun chance? did i miss something? or is stun being used in different contexts here?

 

I think Stay Down's stun chance is against the zombies, not the player.

[Survager]

Difference between stunning and knocking down.

 

No clubs stun, sledgehammers knockdown. But yeah you wouldn't bother with clubs if you go with heavy metal, and you wouldn't bother with heavy metal if you perk up in clubs. Its a choice to specialize. There are more perks than you'll have perk points so you have real choices and consequences in building a viable character.

 

@MadMole, what is the difference between stunning and knocking down? Stunned enemies will not fall? A zombie knocked down will immediately get up, and a stunned zombie will lie for a while before starting to get up?

[Jebolicious]

@Faatal or @MadMole

 

I'm curious, does TFP use a specific development method like SCRUM or AGILE to develop 7D2D? Or are you using a self-developed method? Also, do you have a sophisticated git structure or is all the code just saved on a network?

 

I ask because at the moment I am studying computer sciences and have noticed that a lot of companies have different approaches to software development.

 

Thanks!

 

Jebo

[Bolliz]

Question for Madmole..

 

Do u even lift?

[Bubo]

Info from TFP was that quests don't give skill points anymore and there is a fixed amount of skill points available. You have to specialize, either be the best in only some skills or mediocre in all.

 

 

Really?! Missed that one, thx. I was hoping they'd add more quests (for points) to the trader stash.

[The Gronk]

@MadMole, what is the difference between stunning and knocking down? Stunned enemies will not fall? A zombie knocked down will immediately get up, and a stunned zombie will lie for a while before starting to get up?

 

The stunned animation is when the zombie grabs its face and staggers a bit, the knock-down animation is when they actually fall down as far as I know.

[Swiftpaw]

Do you mean the canned Unity select video resolution and windowed mode dialog box that appears when a Unity programs launches (if enabled)? If so, then that is just showing the choices that were added in the project settings. Vulkan is in there, but it make most textures pink, so not real useful right now.

 

Maybe....If that is what the game launcher for 7 Days to Die is when you first press start. In A16 the option was not there but in A17 the option is there and although Madmole doesn't remember mentioning it, I wouldn't have added it to the start page unless he did. But it appears that in any case it isn't going to be hooked up for A17.

 

It's kind of confusing because both are available. The Unity3D video resolution thing faatal is referring to can be enabled in the 7DtD launcher, so you can get two launcher config windows one after another.

 

Here's this Unity3D developer page explaining the options:

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/GraphicsAPIs.html

 

And here's this "Shader Compilation Target Levels" page which if I understand correctly means that you need to have "pragma target 3.5 (or es3.0)" or higher in order to support "DX11+, OpenGL 3.2+, OpenGL ES 3+, Metal, Vulkan, PS4

/XB1 consoles."

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SL-ShaderCompileTargets.html

 

So I assume that shader level or higher has been reached and this is what took a chunk of time in A17 development.

 

Found a thread about pink textures!

https://answers.unity.com/questions/939160/getting-pink-textures-in-build.html

 

This is expected behaviour - when compiling a build, Unity only includes those shaders that it knows are required (i.e. are assigned to a material in the scene). If you want to change a shader programmatically at runtime, Unity won't know to include that shader unless you explicitly tell it to.

To resolve this, go to Edit -> Project Settings -> Graphics and add the Toon/Basic Outline shader to the list of Always Included Shaders.

 

The problem is most likely because of how Unity trims the fat when you build projects. Any asset which does not appear to be used will be left out, resulting in "Problem Pink" in the case of missing shaders, materials, or textures. If your only reference to them is in scripting, it won't detect that they're needed for the build.

 

Try putting all these special materials in the Resources folder. OR, an alternative that seems to work is, keep some deactivated dummy objects in your scene that use these special materials so Unity knows to include them in the build.

 

I haven't done enough Unity3D development myself yet to see this problem but hopefully that's helpful!