Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

[Jugginator]

Disappointing. The best bugs can take down an entire operating system :-)

 

You can file a bug report but I have a horrible feeling it's an unavoidable feature instead of a bug.

 

I know, right. Such a pathetic bug; I expect no less than infinite looping, dividing by zero, looping BSOD-causing bugs that procure smoke out of my computer. Step up your game 7 days! hehe. That's what I thought, too. Although, it's possible to change it to where it doesn't reset the entire place eh? Such as loot containers and the like, I've noticed some things changing like: previously lootable turning into the 'not lootable helper block', shotgun messiah boxes turning into shamway, etc.

[SxR]

Trader generation seems a little off with 16k maps.

 

After doing my beginning tutorial quest, my Trader was 6.5 kilometers away.

[unholyjoe]

Trader generation seems a little off with 16k maps.

 

After doing my beginning tutorial quest, my Trader was 6.5 kilometers away.

 

best to my knowledge the 16k map gen hasnt been given the green light and thats why it is disabled in normal creation mode and only 4k and 8k are allowed... i know what youre thinking but yeah... the crew has nt turned it on and everyone is out for the holidays... hopefully soon tho. hang in there

[Laz Man]

From what I know of the POI system a recalculation makes sense. When do you revert to the pre-quest state? What about changes made during the quest? What if the player has cleared this POI and knows where everything is hidden?

 

It does open up the occasional problem where you turn up to a quest POI and find out it has the only working cement mixer on the map. Do you complete the quest, roll the dice, and hope the mixer is still there or do you ignore the quest and take the cement mixer location as the prize?

 

I really like how a POI is reset when starting the quest. Altho, this is sorta like an exploit (clear building twice), I hope the dev's leave it in for the fun factor. I also like how as a player you need to choose whether do the quest or not for such valuables like usable work stations. Do I want the additional loot and experience from the reset POI or do I want the valuable work station?

 

Making trade offs like this is a good thing imo.

[unholyjoe]

I really like how a POI is reset when starting the quest. Altho, this is sorta like an exploit (clear building twice), I hope the dev's leave it in for the fun factor. I also like how as a player you need to choose whether do the quest or not for such valuables like usable work stations. Making trade offs like this is a good thing imo.

 

yeah i think the time, and maybe travel distance kinda makes it not worth the effort and at only twice per a quest.. and with RNG it may not be worth it.

 

 

also we have a more important issue to check out... i have seen several reports and heard of more but we dont know why this sporadic bug is even happening.

 

if someone can shed light on it that would be helpful.... the report is...

 

some claim that when they start 7dtd up and after a bit of time they find themselves enjoying the game...

 

i just find it hard to believe!

[The Gronk]

<snipped for space>

 

The opposite is also true. A non-working crafting station may just as easily be transformed into a working one.

[lug]

thanks for the helpful convo in the last couple pages. a pleasant find, indeed

[unholyjoe]

The opposite is also true. A non-working crafting station may just as easily be transformed into a working one.

 

exactly... the lesser of two evils..

[stasis78]

The opposite is also true. A non-working crafting station may just as easily be transformed into a working one.

 

Repair broken stations should be a thing 1000000%

[SxR]

best to my knowledge the 16k map gen hasnt been given the green light and thats why it is disabled in normal creation mode and only 4k and 8k are allowed... i know what youre thinking but yeah... the crew has nt turned it on and everyone is out for the holidays... hopefully soon tho. hang in there

 

I didn't even notice that, I exclusively use the Dedicated Server xml to host with my friends. Thanks for letting me know, Joe. ;b

 

I guess I should've used the 8k one then. Will do that next time

 

Also it took 45 mins to generate. wew.

[unholyjoe]

I didn't even notice that, I exclusively use the Dedicated Server xml to host with my friends. Thanks for letting me know, Joe. ;b

 

I guess I should've used the 8k one then. Will do that next time

 

Also it took 45 mins to generate. wew.

 

way too long for me and in single play, i dont need world that large to explore around in. as i said tho, hang in there and kenyajuu will get to it.

[khzmusik]

kenyajuu will get to it.

 

That guy really deserves a raise. He's simultaneously working on the two most important aspects of 7D2D, which are RWG and XML modding, and not getting enough budget for either one. IMHO of course.

 

On a separate note - that bug where the bedroll and LCB become inactive? Pretty sure wildaxeman1 nailed it on the head (intentionally or not), and SP is deactivating both as if we are playing in MP. Filed a bug report: https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?101363-Alpha-17-Stable-B240-bug-reporting-thread&p=919940&viewfull=1#post919940

 

On another separate note - glad that asking about the quest POIs actually resulted in some useful discussion. For once.

 

It seems like there are some "exploits" to work out (in quotes because the "exploits" are actually harder than playing the game normally so who cares).

 

I'm just happy that I can take over a cool POI and not have to worry about quests ♥♥♥♥ing up my home. That was my main concern.

[cevkiv]

Maybe someone can help me, and I can relay some of my impressions of Alpha 17 at the same time.

 

Early game feels more dangerous than before, which, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it feels like the reason for the increase in difficulty is because Zombies seem to be able to locate me from ridiculously far away; unless I'm more or less standing perfectly still in a dark room with, hopefully, several blocks between me and the 'outside', zombies seem to be able to locate me. I attempt to keep my noise levels as low as I possibly can, but the problem with this is that, in attempting to clear out a house or something similar to spend the first night in, the act of clearing it out attracts more zombies, and then dealing with those zombies attracts more zombies. It's very difficult to do much of anything when everything I do attracts zombies, and they have an uncanny knack for noticing me through walls and at extreme distances. While I feel it's easier, somewhat, in Alpha 17 to kill individual zombies, the fact that it seems next to impossible for me to kill zombies without attracting more zombies means that I have to spend most of my time killing zombies instead of building up defenses or offensive capabilities to deal with zombies.

 

To move to something that is more design choice than me sucking at the game itself, the skill system, and the gating of certain recipes behind it, feels like an extreme effort to 'artificially' increase the amount of time you 'have' to spend playing. It is frustrating on a similar level to how Project Zomboid's character creation works; there are various perks and skills that you can purchase, but the amount of them you can purchase without making yourself a lame, half-blind, half-death, hypochondriac, overweight smoker, to balance out the 'perks' with 'flaws', is so small, that it feels ridiculous unrealistic in terms of lack of my ability to buy that someone can't know how to cook, play baseball, have a job like being a doctor, and like to hike all at the same time; I realize that there is a desire to make people specialize, but the severe limitations on what the player can do at the very beginning of the game feels really ridiculous to me. I think that either thinks like basic cooking should not be gated, or that something like a system where you get a certain number of 'freebie' points to purchase one level of a couple of skills, or maybe two at a much increased cost, would be somewhat helpful. Presumably people had jobs and hobbies before the zombie apocalypse, and I imagine the average adult can at least do basic cooking.

 

I feel like, with the standard zombie trope of "destroy the brain", headshots and wounds to the head should deal more damage, base. Perhaps decrease the initial accuracy of ranged weapons, or make two hit boxes, the 'head' hitbox and the 'brain' hitbox, which the brain being smaller and causing more damage if it, rewarding taking time to aim instead of just "eh, probably gonna hit the head. I think something like a brain hitbox wouldn't overpower ranged weapons too much, as it would be much easier to hit the brain in melee range, so melee attacks, which still carry more risk due to proximity, would still deal more damage, which would reward the risk taken to get in close. Perhaps an increase in damage on a hit to the brain for a power attack, to give increased incentive to making well placed blows instead of just spamming attacks and trying to get lucky. Perhaps blows to specific sides of the head could have additional effects; blows to the back could reduce sight range (optic lobe), and blows to whichever side most of the motor function is on could reduce movement speed, or attack speed, or attack damage, or something similar. Blows to the front of the face might reduce sense of smell, or reduce eyesight, perhaps drastically and permanently, to represent the fact that smashing someone's face in and destroying their eyes, while not fatal to a zombie, still deprives them of a sense.

 

There's also the whole "killing zombies gives a lot of EXP". I know it's been talked to death, but perhaps some system where avoiding zombies- since fighting them would be your last resort option in a zombie apocalypse- could give experience. For an example, a horde of zombies wandering by the player's location, that pass by the player undetected, could award experience that increases based on the proximity of the player to the zombies; hiding in your bunker while a horde passes by on the edge of their detection range shouldn't really give anything, but being right on the other side of a door while a horde passes by and fails to notice you could grant experience for each zombie that goes by undetected.

[Guppycur]

@Devs

 

Y'all planning on going to 2018.3 by any chance? Supposed to take advantage of new speedtree technology... Could make Dust's texture pack even more beautiful.

 

[Royal Deluxe]

[HeLLKnight]

@Devs

 

Y'all planning on going to 2018.3 by any chance? Supposed to take advantage of new speedtree technology... Could make Dust's texture pack even more beautiful.

 

 

 

Incredible mod! not only has better graphics but also gives better performance for me than vanilla.

 

Also Unity 2018.3 gives "GPU-instanced render path for terrain, yielding a dramatic reduction in draw calls for most cases" as I understand it's important for open world games and moves calculations from CPU to GPU, crucial for this game.

[Aldranon]

Repair broken stations should be a thing 1000000%

 

I've always thought it should be one of the first missions offered by the trader.

[alchemi2]

Personally I'm enjoying the game, looking forward to more content being added, such as recipes and mods, no doubt there will be more tweaking and balancing done over the next year but overall I'm enjoying learning about the various perks, combination of uses and what to prioritize.

 

Not made it passed day 21 yet without a restart, so still looking forward to trying out the fueled vehicles.

 

Only real issues i've found are getting distracted, not staying on task, biting off more than I can chew or totally under estimating a situation, so loving it. Been playing just on Naz and made the early decision after multiple deaths to drop down to one below default, while I get to grips with all the changes, which has proved fruitful and fun.

 

Overall IMO this is the best Alpha release, has great long term potential and is both challenging and entertaining.

[HerrKingsley]

Incredible mod! not only has better graphics but also gives better performance for me than vanilla.

 

Also Unity 2018.3 gives "GPU-instanced render path for terrain, yielding a dramatic reduction in draw calls for most cases" as I understand it's important for open world games and moves calculations from CPU to GPU, crucial for this game.

 

Omg as soon as I get home to my best I will download this mod.

During the weekend I been playing on my work computer on 800x600 lowest settings. My eyes are bleeding.

[Royal Deluxe]

I've always thought it should be one of the first missions offered by the trader.

 

Q1: Get material xyz and repair my forge

Q2: make me 50 Brick blocks

(after that the compound get a upgrade)

Q3: Get material xyz and repair my Mixer

Q4: make me 50 wet concrete blocks

Q5: Get material xyz and repair my Workbench

Q7: Make me (...something not gated?)

Q8: Get material xyz and repair my Chemistry Station

Q9: Make me 1000 Paint

 

"Thank you. i reduce the prices by 10% for you and you can stay here during nights"

[Aldranon]

Q1: Get material xyz and repair my forge

Q2: make me 50 Brick blocks

(after that the compound get a upgrade)

Q3: Get material xyz and repair my Mixer

Q4: make me 50 wet concrete blocks

Q5: Get material xyz and repair my Workbench

Q7: Make me (...something not gated?)

Q8: Get material xyz and repair my Chemistry Station

Q9: Make me 1000 Paint

 

"Thank you. i reduce the prices by 10% for you and you can stay here during nights"

 

You just made it easy for TFP to make things more immersive and give the game a touch of a plot. Something more than endless/mindless slaughter anyway.

 

*Stay for only 1500 dukes a night!

[Royal Deluxe]

^^ 1500 i would pay

Sadly the traders are no longer really hordesafe

[The Gronk]

@Devs

 

Y'all planning on going to 2018.3 by any chance? Supposed to take advantage of new speedtree technology... Could make Dust's texture pack even more beautiful.

 

 

Speedtree has been in for quite a while but, along with the rest of the terrain system, it's having a major update to bring it up to modern standards.

 

Who knows? It might even be worth using Unity's own internal terrain engine after all of this time. The old system was klunky and slow when it was first implemented, it's just an embarrassment now :-)

[Aldranon]

^^ 1500 i would pay

Sadly the traders are no longer really hordesafe

 

With the final stage of a traders compound, it could be. After a while, horde night gets a bit boring anyway and this could alleviate that tedium.

 

Of course TFP would need to expand the late game and add some reason to adventure out. Probably when factions are put in and done right.

 

I think TFP are planning on a multi map game sometime in the future as that is why the world subdirectory can have many prebuilt maps.

[canadianbluebeer]

best to my knowledge the 16k map gen hasnt been given the green light and thats why it is disabled in normal creation mode and only 4k and 8k are allowed... i know what youre thinking but yeah... the crew has nt turned it on and everyone is out for the holidays... hopefully soon tho. hang in there

 

Currently, only 5 traders are generated, regardless of map size.

 

On 16k that is not enough. We've modded the rwgmixer.xml to give more.

2 ways to do it.

Adding the tradergroup back in (there's a mod for that), and/or increasing the maxcount for each trader.

Or doing both. (what I did)

 

My 16k maps have 20 traders (prolly too much), but their placement is still... weird.

 

Yes, large map gen isn't done, roads are an absolute disaster, and the biome placement is chaotic.

 

So basically, play large maps at your own risk, but trader count at least can easily be fixed.