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How do you like A17 experimental?


Roland

How do you like A17 experimental?  

526 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you like A17 experimental?

    • It is garbage. I hate everything about it.
      6
    • In general I hate it. The things I do like are overshadowed by the bad.
      30
    • In general I dislike it. It has good aspects but overall it is worse.
      97
    • In general I'm ambivalent. I have mixed feelings or am still unsure.
      77
    • In general I like it. It has bad aspects but overall it is improved.
      150
    • In general I love it. The things I don't like are overshadowed by the good.
      161
    • It is perfection. I love everything about it.
      5


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Other than the gamestage challenge levels being thrown at the player is about 20-30% too advanced for SP on Nomad, the game is pretty slick.

 

Between Adventurer and Nomad, adventurer's combat is painfully easy, but the bloodmoon hordes can be taken down by dawn. Nomads' hordes cannot be cleared before dawn in SP, but the individual combat balance is just right. I narrow this down to Nomads' horde scaling being too difficult for an average 'take them on' single player experience, and may need to ease on the brakes just slightly for that perfect feel.

 

Other than poor ranged weapon balance compared to melee (bullet sponge problem) and broke perks (eg, blunderbuss & shotgun shells not receiving damage bonuses, armor not receiving improved DR), and it being way too freaking dark to see during the daytime, much less at night, the game is in a good place.

 

It's not A16 anymore, and I hope TFP settles on a progression mechanic soon, but what is present is perfectly fine once working.

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Armor Encumbrance: Movement speed reductions for armor I can see, currently they are piss-poorly balanced, gloves/boots/helm should in no way be hurting the player as much as a much heavier chest/leg armor. The stam regen penalty has to go as well. I know of the mods but i've never found one of the fitting mods ever.

 

I'm not generally a fan of encumbrance in games, but...have you worn a real armor helmet before? They're heavy. Unless you're in amazing shape, boots and a helmet will slow you down and tire you out just as much as any other armor.

 

A day in these leather boots and this helmet was EXHAUSTING.

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...I'm not here to discuss my feelings.

 

One issue I've run into is a slow leveling while having zeds turned off and not building - just nomading around random gen, sightseeing and looting. I like to "play" you know, but this is just an exception I suppose ( if i started building stuff, I might level up faster ).

 

Now, aside from this there are a few peculiarities I find could be sorted out rather easily with some UI tweaking:

  • Character stats and the avatar are occluding one another, so the actual character screen has become cumbersome or essentially lost it's prior full-feature nature.
  • The above arrangement has made discerning what food is doing to hunger and thirst an oddball thing to keep track of along side of what the character is wearing ( and what, if anything is going on with that equipment ).
  • I can't make sense of Mods - they're actual use is poorly described ( if this simply hasn't gotten a fully dumbed down or expository journal entry, then that's that I suppose ).
  • Health is a mystery hiding behind food and water, or is stamina a product of food and water, or health is the product of consumption - what is going on here? I have to look behind my avatar in the cellphone signal button section ( yall could really use a better icon for this ) in order to figure this stuff out.
  • Food/water buffs count up to what? This timer exists, but I have no idea why.
  • Food items, in particular: Don't show what they cook in to stat wise ( there's no weighing the benefits of a cooked potato vs a raw potato if you don't already have a cooked potato - the potential result is not shown in the cooking menu at the campfire )
  • There's no one-stop encyclopedia of items, craftable or otherwise, that one can turn to so that one can look at to solve the above mentioned problem.
  • There's no one-stop encyclopedia of effects, buffs, etc, either.
  • The prior four list items, most importantly, make setting long term goals, or even knowing how to set long term goals that much more difficult. This makes classing the character out as a builder, or miner, or what have you a bit difficult on account of scattered needs and generalities associated with skill requisites. I guess you would call these the knock-on effects.

 

The comparator feature is nice, I like this, but it occasionally gets wonky and I have no idea what it's comparing the item to.

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I don't get why still, I can't just plop some eggs in a frying pan and make some scrambled eggs.

It totally ruins the game.

 

Power attacks, its like why have regular attack at all. Make it use slightly more stam.

 

I do not see enough zombies in the wild, progression is slow as a result.

More improvements for speed, at least make SLI work without it being complicated.

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tentative thumbs up.

 

I like the controversial item quality/mod changes...a lot.

I'm a bit disappointed about the perks...I always liked the "get better at it as you do it, with skills to supplement" aspect, but its not unworkable (in general its ok...it drops to "ehhhh..." at the current level gates, which feel high).

 

I'm fine with zombie block damage, but upset by player block damage, OR vice versa...basically i hate the disconnect in zombie block vs. player block damage.

 

I utterly and completely loathe the Near Death Trauma debuff...it is a complete game breaker for me...I'm currently "dealing with it" by console commanding it out whenever it happens.

 

I like all the new content.

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Primarily, I'm not too sure about the default gamestage Zed changes, particularly with reference to Bloodmoon Hordes but otherwise it's great.

Stealth and distraction is sweet.

Levelled loot is fine and dandy.

Burning calories performing actions works for me.

Tricksy sleeper Zeds are all good.

Just not sure about Cops and Wights showing up so early on BloodMoons :)

 

EDIT: The first time I made scrambled eggs I overdid them, the second time I nearly burned my parents house down ( I was cooking them for a friend and I and got distracted...) ...and I still haven't perfected soft-boiled eggs despite 30 years of trying!

So, I'm good with the perks currently too heh.

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There are countless things on the negative side... They sacrifice fun and immersion for some forced difficulty. And if you like it, that is fine. I don't. Not because I'm not good enough... I still play on insane and less loot and 64 bloodmoon zombies... It just doesn't feel rewarding, but punishing!

 

 

This playlist, and especially this video in particular (skip to 3:21 to hear about reward vs punishment in gamedesign) is something TFPs should REALLY take to heart! This one video alone details nearly ALL of the flaws in A17 (Roland please! If you read this! Take the time to watch these 10 minutes! I've never asked something like this! But do! And you might understand where I come from!)

 

Good video. I agree that if TFP would take the lessons in the video to heart, the game would be better for it.

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The option i would and want to vote for is this...... " I love it but it desperately needs balancing. "

 

GS multiplier is wayyyyyyyy to extreme

 

Steel ammo degrades a weapon 200% faster, seriously ? The bullet tip is the same how is a steel cartridge that harmful to a clip and breach ?

 

Some perks dont seem to be working and its hard to figure out the 1's that are and which arent.

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This playlist, and especially this video in particular (skip to 3:21 to hear about reward vs punishment in gamedesign) is something TFPs should REALLY take to heart! This one video alone details nearly ALL of the flaws in A17 (Roland please! If you read this! Take the time to watch these 10 minutes! I've never asked something like this! But do! And you might understand where I come from!)

 

I don’t see how this video is going to help the devs as they are already doing what the video suggests. They didn’t think it was fun to spamcraft thousands of stone axes, jump on cacti, spam bandages, or run back and forth at night. So they removed the game incentives to do so. The devs also didn’t think it was fun to have concrete and steel so early in the game so they delayed when players could obtain it. The problem is not reward vs punishment but that the devs have a very different view then you do about the funnest way to play the game. If anything, based on the criticism in the forums, the devs have been too successful in following the suggested practices in the video.

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This:

Many of the players have been around for a while, and although it gets polished the grindiness feels exaggerated with each replay.

Tha AI has improved alot for day to day zombies, but seems to be stupider for 7 day horde - case in point, build a 5x5x5 cube with a door - a ramp up to door with 1 block missing - club zombies as they drop down the hole.

Randomizing zombie behavior, or assigning them a behaviour (at least on 7th day) that fits their specific specialty would help. The loss of the Behemoth was a big blow for endgame, and the only thing that may help is if we have few but smart bandits coming along.

Great game but the unending tweaking is getting crazy. Add options in the options page for playstyle :) and get it finished so modders can take the time to Mod properly without worrying their countless hours will be for nought.

 

Agreed.

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Does this somehow relate to the snags zombies encounter when there's more than 20 of them. It as if their pathing is constantly interrupted by each other on horde night and I don't even have to sprint to get away. Because of this, it actually becomes incredibly easy the higher gamestage you go. Obviously, this is a big problem.

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A17 is the toughest Alpha so far. You need good mouse control to play the game as it is. The very casual SP might stop playing.

However, as I look through the XML files more each day, I see that anything I don't like or just want to test out, is right there for me!

 

So the silver lining was my discontent has gotten me to explore what's behind the curtain and it didn't ruin the game for me like I had feared.

Two thumbs up! :)

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You'll be glad to know that in the next update there will be new options for zombie speed. Speeds can be selected for zombies during the day and night, for ferals, and for bloodmoon. Four speeds for now: Walk, Jog, Run, Sprint. All but Sprint are slower zombie speeds with sprint being the default run speed. They are planning a fifth speed which would exceed the player's speed for higher difficulty.

 

With these options you'll be able to have zombie walk all the time but ferals run but everyone runs on bloodmoon. Or Run during the day but walk at night. Or Everyone jogs to increase POI pressure. or whatever strikes your fancy.

 

That's awesome! Any more news to share on the next experimental or stable, Roland?

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My feelings for A17 experimental is a bit mixed. It is playable, and to some extent

enjoyable. For A17 stable i cannot comment as it is not out yet.

 

The Good:

Improved AI. It is heaps better then before.

Encumberance. I like it. Much better then hard limiting.

Motorcycle. I just love that idle sound.

Zombie health. Seems about right.

Thermal stuff. It is better then it was.

Mods. The stuff that makes the game playable.

 

The Bad:

Gamestage progression. Getting ferals way to fast.

Loot. The good containers (tool and weapons) are almost everywhere.

Zombies in closets and ceilings. Not fun.

Mini dungeons everywhere. Uhm.. why?

Not much new stuff, just new ways of doing old stuff. Where's the ziplines?????

 

The Ugly:

The landscape. It's basicly woodland, woodland, woodland, snow and deserts.

Immersion. It just don't exist anymore.

Crafting guns. Uhm.. just no. Perhaps let us make a cannon?

 

 

And that was for experimental up to and including B208. What the future will bring

we'll see then. I know they will improve the landscape, though i doubt we'll see plains

again.

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The option i would and want to vote for is this...... " I love it but it desperately needs balancing. "

 

Steel ammo degrades a weapon 200% faster, seriously ? The bullet tip is the same how is a steel cartridge that harmful to a clip and breach ?

 

Maybe 10% faster with commercial steel ammo, probably worse with ammo the player makes as the steel starts to rust and that can be a problem.

 

 

But the main deal is play balance for the game. Steel ammo is too easy to make compared to brass.

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I have logged so many hours in this game. I also realize this is an experimental build. It is beautiful to look at and I appreciate item slot-saving in the inventory a lot.

 

All that being said, the 'every skill in a box' system really annoys me. The needless complication of farming, persistently pathetic tools and weapons, the amazing sponge-like nature of zombie heads, the constantly diminishing health and stamina, the inability to use materials that won't get chewed through in seconds in the early game. I play hardcore, but I can't even figure out how to get what I want efficiently out of the skill tree yet, needlessly complex. I expected subtle and time-saving changes, and I got some of those, but the way this plays doesn't feel like survival anymore.

 

This brings me to my second point, expectations. Besides my opinion on the current state of the rework, a part of me was hoping this humongous update would have some story, or at least narrative-based objectives, perhaps introduce an end-game. Instead I am frustrated right out the gate trying to figure out the basics again. Cooking and farming shouldn't be completely locked away in skill trees. Still can't craft a damn coat!

 

**edit. I realize that even though I love the previous builds, I am so experienced in them that they somewhat bore me. I mean you can't clock over 1200 hours on a static game and not know your way around. These changes have made me wide awake playing again, and I appreciate that a lot. While hoard nights do provide a dynamic difficulty increase, I wonder if anything could be done to keep the game feeling new. I hesitate to mention legendary weapons, but with the new system in place, it seems like unique items would add something positive.

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This game is now a complete snore fest until level 40. I'm getting real tired of killing every single zombie I see just to watch the bar go up another quarter of an inch so that I can pick the next perk that does absolutely nothing significant. Please give us something to do early game. Here's an idea, how about you don't level gate the mods.

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I love almost everything. Skills, new textures, zombie combat, MODS for equipment especially.

 

BUT:

 

Stamina woes are gross until you get a bike, and even worse if you're trying to gather materials. Stamina for mining needs to be tuned way down. Getting enough stone to concrete your base is now gross.

 

Death penalty needs to be 15 minutes max.

 

Zombies destroying bases so quickly that we have to build giant, clunky fortresses sucks.

 

Gamestage is crazy. There's no reason to be getting cops and radiated on day 7 on normal difficulty, or finding ferals and cops in T1 clear quests.

 

Performance is abysmal and needs serious tuning.

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This game is now a complete snore fest until level 40. I'm getting real tired of killing every single zombie I see just to watch the bar go up another quarter of an inch so that I can pick the next perk that does absolutely nothing significant. Please give us something to do early game. Here's an idea, how about you don't level gate the mods.

 

Maybe a compromise is to only have the good loot behind quests, both in the POI's and as rewards.

 

This would set things up for an actual plot to the game as TFP can have triggers for special loot that allows for the next few missions. No one HAS to do quests, unless you want to see the cool things waiting for you in the next map, for example.

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Maybe a compromise is to only have the good loot behind quests, both in the POI's and as rewards.

 

This would set things up for an actual plot to the game as TFP can have triggers for special loot that allows for the next few missions. No one HAS to do quests, unless you want to see the cool things waiting for you in the next map, for example.

 

Edit: The more I think of quests opening up new maps, the more exciting the game can get! Think of the last map in a series of maps being ONE HUGE CITY! The Duke is waiting for you...

 

… and his army of Slayers! What is a Slayer you ask? Yes indeed, what are they? :)

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I love almost everything, so i will just complain about things i dislike:

 

- Performance (too often FPS drops even with good PCs)

- Flame Arrow Effect (I cant aim properly with that much fire)

- Hitpoints of the Wood and Iron Spikes are to low

- Blockdamage of Zombies is a little bit to high. There should be special zombies with higher block damage and the other ones should do less.

- I would really love to see a hunger and thirst bar in the HUD

 

These are my main complaints. Keep on the good work TFP!

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