Developer Discussions: Alpha 17

[Jay_ombie]

I myself finding the RWG amusing and with low expectations for this kind of landscape generation at the moment it's providing a hell of a lot of fun driving about.

 

I find strange mountain spikes and cork screw roads which begs me for a moment wondering am I on an alien world in NoMansSky or in 7 Days haha. Either way I am captivated and it doesn't distrupt from otherwise such a great game.

 

Like everyone else the RWG will just get better and that's a joy to know as my fun will just escalate accordingly.

 

Mean while I am enjoying the mods the awesome people out there have released already and makes this great game into an awesome one.

[ParadiseLostUK]

I've been playing on a map I created with the much maligned 17.2 b20 and it's been an absolute blast. Great variety of POI's and towns, admittedly it took three or four seeds before I found this one but this one is a keeper.

 

Haven't tried a new map on b27 yet, will probably wait for the next update as I've still got plenty of exploring to do on my current playthrough.

[khzmusik]

I am not going to reopen the original conversation (and regret even bringing it up again). But I do find this tidbit interesting:

 

they reverted the highly unpopular A17.2 experimental version of RWG

 

I was not aware they did this. I am only now noticing the single patch note about it in A17.2E B27 (from A17.2E B20): "Ruleset for 17.1 RWG is used again."

 

I'm sure this will make a lot of folks happy, especially those who want to use Magoli's Compo Pack.

 

On the other hand, I personally don't care either way that they did this. I was not specifically unhappy with A17.2E B20 RWG, but with RWG throughout all of A17 (including A17.1 and A17.0 stable).

 

Not that anyone should care, but this is what I had to say about A17 RWG:

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?109608-RWG-Just-When-you-think-it-can-t-get-any-worse&p=946357#post946357

All of those issues have been present throughout all A17 versions, at least in my limited experience (and in my casual reading of the bug reports).

 

But as I said there, and will say again: TFP have made RWG a high priority, and we shouldn't count RWG out yet. At that time Madmole hadn't yet posted WIP pics of RWG. Now that he has, I have even more confidence it will, when finished, be great.

 

Also:

Is there anyone here that ENJOYS randomgen more than previous versions? The terrain is more natural, there are mountains, burned out sections of towns (though I still question how things can be on fire 150 years later), and the graphics are simply amazing.

 

In terms of current A17 RWG, I obviously disagree. But as for the graphics - 100% agree with you, A17 is miles beyond A16.

 

Hint: if you turn down your resolution you don't even have to mess with anything else like draw distance. I'm playing on a mid-level card from a few years ago, and can play with all settings maxed out.

 

I also think it's great that TFP recently added an option to turn off texture streaming. It didn't make any difference in my case, but I've seen a few posts from others where it did.

 

On the subject of significant positive changes:

 

The recently added blood moon frequency settings are a game changer. I'm trying a new playthrough style right now, and in addition to other changes, I have blood moon settings that are both incredibly infrequent and incredibly random. I think it's set to a base two weeks with a random offset of seven days (maybe both are even higher, can't remember now).

 

I love what this does to the game. Blood moons are no longer something you can reliably plan for. You don't know when they're coming, so they're like a sword of Damocles hanging over your head. Plus, since they're so far apart, the blood moons themselves are perceived as being far more destructive when they finally do arrive. You can't judge one blood moon by the previous, since your game stage has increased so much in that time.

 

One frustration I've had with 7D2D (and most non-plotted games generally) is that it's difficult to find a way to keep players invested at higher levels. The game is pushing you towards surviving better, and by the time you've "won" the game, it gets boring.

 

I'm trying to see if infrequent blood moons counteract this, and so far I think they will help tremendously. Say you set blood moons to the absolute rarest they can be. When they're not happening the player is lulled into a sense of false security, and when the blood moon finally hits, now your entire work is gone and your base destroyed, and you have to almost start over.

 

As a comparison, it's like blood moons create the early seasons of TWD. First you set up camp in the woods - and at the end of the "season" that camp is destroyed. Next, you set up in Hershel's farm - and at the end of that "season" it's destroyed. Next you set up in a prison... and you can see where this is going.

 

Hopefully TFP will get NPCs into the game before the first beta (though it sounds unlikely). If this happens you'll have the ability to not just play a zombie survival crafting game, but create player narratives and world-building that will rival TWD. Or, given TWD's latest seasons, probably surpass it.

[Gepps]

Not that anyone should care, but this is what I had to say about A17 RWG:

https://7daystodie.com/forums/showthread.php?109608-RWG-Just-When-you-think-it-can-t-get-any-worse&p=946357#post946357

All of those issues have been present throughout all A17 versions, at least in my limited experience (and in my casual reading of the bug reports).

 

I'm not going to defend how bad RWG is at the moment, as there are some easy fixes TFP should have added to improve things, especially in POI distribution.

 

May I ask if you've looked for a mod or tried to fix problem yourself. There are a few mods that change the landscape generation and adjust the POI distribution to a point where you don't notice a lot of the problems you're talking about. I'm not saying it gets rid of the problems completely or that TFP should not have made some of these fixes earlier rather that waiting for a larger overhaul but it does make the game play well again.

[Aribo]

Theres always been RWG not spawning something in correct I had an issue too with a water village although it looked cool so now its like a little venice.

 

If it helps... Since testing the crap out of map generations with the ability to set a size. I have noticed they tend to work out best if done in multiplications of the minimum value.

[Aribo]

Lol. Roland. Madmole please will you put advanced back into the drawbridge it made lovely castle doors also some of the old textures look worse now like redwood. thanks for the raft and scope for xbow. asked for in 14. obviously a popular request. just need my screamer with the nurses hat a pinny for Halloween then that is me made-up.

 

thanks Ari

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Lol. Roland. Madmole please will you put advanced back into the drawbridge it made lovely castle doors also some of the old textures look worse now like redwood. thanks for the raft and scope for xbow. I remeber I asked for these in 14. obviously a popular request and not in there because of my request alone. Now I just need my screamer with the nurses hat a pinny for Halloween then that is me made-up. Especially if she has dual vocales both her own and that of the schoolgirl

 

thanks Ari

[Joe. Blow]

Sharing is caring!

 

I've been playing on a map I created with the much maligned 17.2 b20 and it's been an absolute blast. Great variety of POI's and towns, admittedly it took three or four seeds before I found this one but this one is a keeper.

 

Haven't tried a new map on b27 yet, will probably wait for the next update as I've still got plenty of exploring to do on my current playthrough.

 

Please share fellow traveler! BFE isn't to bad.

[ParadiseLostUK]

Please share fellow traveler! BFE isn't to bad.

 

Ok so I've just generated again under b27 and at first glance it still seems pretty good, can't guarantee the POI distribution will still be as good though.

 

[canadianbluebeer]

Lol. Roland. Madmole please will you put advanced back into the drawbridge it made lovely castle doors also some of the old textures look worse now like redwood. thanks for the raft and scope for xbow. asked for in 14. obviously a popular request. just need my screamer with the nurses hat a pinny for Halloween then that is me made-up.

 

thanks Ari

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Lol. Roland. Madmole please will you put advanced back into the drawbridge it made lovely castle doors also some of the old textures look worse now like redwood. thanks for the raft and scope for xbow. I remeber I asked for these in 14. obviously a popular request and not in there because of my request alone. Now I just need my screamer with the nurses hat a pinny for Halloween then that is me made-up. Especially if she has dual vocales both her own and that of the schoolgirl

 

thanks Ari

 

I just edited the xml to fix the drawbridge. No idea why they changed it.

(blocks.xml changed onlysimplerotations to false, and it's back to normal)

[khzmusik]

May I ask if you've looked for a mod or tried to fix problem yourself. There are a few mods that change the landscape generation and adjust the POI distribution to a point where you don't notice a lot of the problems you're talking about.

 

It's a good suggestion. But I have not, for a few reasons:

 

• A17 RWG has changed pretty drastically from stable to stable, and I don't have any idea if any solution for one will work with the others (that includes mods - see the aforementioned Compo Pack, where Magoli gave up on supporting A17.2 B20)
  
• Many of the problems (like untraversable roads) do not seem to be easily modded out
  
• Most importantly, I know entirely new RWG is coming - and as long as I find even one good RWG world, I can play on that until it comes out
  

 

Thanks to Royal Deluxe, I have found a seed that generates a world that is actually very playable. (Ironically it is on the A17.2 B20 version that everyone hated, so don't ask me for the seed, it probably won't work any more.)

 

I'm just playing on that world until the next gen RWG comes out. But only until the next gen RWG comes out, since it looks pretty awesome.

[khzmusik]

I just edited the xml to fix the drawbridge. No idea why they changed it.

(blocks.xml changed onlysimplerotations to false, and it's back to normal)

 

Obviously I can't speak for TFP. But I suspect at least one reason was to remove the "floating base" exploit:

[Menace312]

Obviously I can't speak for TFP. But I suspect at least one reason was to remove the "floating base" exploit:

 

Would that be for the reason, that it is silly only?

Since its trivial for singleplayer (who cares), and it's a really bad tactic in multiplayer...

[The Gronk]

Would that be for the reason, that it is silly only?

Since its trivial for singleplayer (who cares), and it's a really bad tactic in multiplayer...

 

You'd be surprised how little self-control people have. We've had a few people complaining because there's an exploit in SP. When you point out they could just stop exploiting it they seem to fail in grasping the concept of self control and act as though the exploit is mandatory.

 

Reminds me of Bart Simpson and the electrified cupcake...

 

[DaVegaNL]

Damn it's quiet around here.

 

Shame to see that we're approaching pre-A17 player numbers already. Would have hoped the peak was smeared out a little longer.

[Jay_ombie]

Damn it's quiet around here.

 

Shame to see that we're approaching pre-A17 player numbers already. Would have hoped the peak was smeared out a little longer.

 

Everyone is playing the game that's why--- hehe

 

I wonder when will they put up the A18 chat thread. Isn't MM testing it out as we speak. ?

[beerfly]

Isn't MM testing it out as we speak. ?

 

They must build a build to have something to test. He said some of the pimps have started work on A18.

[Skuriles]

Everyone is playing the game that's why--- hehe

 

I wonder when will they put up the A18 chat thread. Isn't MM testing it out as we speak. ?

 

Or some people wait for more improvements to play. I wait for performance improvements as I don't want to scale down the resolution to half because of massive performance issues. But I will give it a try as soon as I find more time :-)

[Gatling96]

+1

Also waiting for the new RWG, cause those water towers gave me hydrophobia xD

[The Gronk]

+1

Also waiting for the new RWG, cause those water towers gave me hydrophobia xD

 

Yep, same here but for different reasons.

 

Instead of asking "How did they do that?" I'm asking "Why did they do that?".

 

World generation is one of those things that goes largely unnoticed when it works well but becomes impossible to ignore when it doesn't.

[Thecolours]

How do I find out if the seed I'm on has the shotgun messiah factory in it?

[Prisma501]

How do I find out if the seed I'm on has the shotgun messiah factory in it?

 

Check prefabs.xml in your generated world folder.

 

Cheers

[Menace312]

You'd be surprised how little self-control people have. We've had a few people complaining because there's an exploit in SP. When you point out they could just stop exploiting it they seem to fail in grasping the concept of self control and act as though the exploit is mandatory.

 

Reminds me of Bart Simpson and the electrified cupcake...

 

 

Hmm, thats a really strange outlook to adopt?

 

I mean exploits are fun!

I dont use them I game much, since it ruins the game experience. But sometimes it's fun to screw around .

 

Ahh well... It'll get squatched and I could just mod it back in. But I won't because I dont really exploit it anyway...

 

But now I never can... Easily anyway...

The feable minded! You suck!

[TSBX]

F1>dm then do whatever your heart desires.

[Menace312]

F1>dm then do whatever your heart desires.

 

True enough... Though I dont think that'll do in this instance, but I take your point.

Peace out.

[sillls]

I have noticed that some of the lights are still on in some buildings. Will it be possible to one day hook up to those and power player placed things like lights and stuff?