Alpha 20 News!! -- Developer Diary and Dev Clean Thread links and commentary!

[SylenThunder]

Here is a link to the discussion on the Official Forum.
https://community.7daystodie.com/topic/22366-alpha-20-dev-diary/

Alpha 20 Dev Stream Videos

1) Alpha 20 First Look with Prime and Madmole October 28th, 2020[www.twitch.tv]
2) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream November 25th, 2020
3) Twitch Integration Demonstration (19.5 but also relevant to A20)[www.twitch.tv]
4) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream September 15, 2021
5) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream September 22, 2021
6) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream September 29, 2021
7) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream October 6, 2021
8) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream October 13, 2021

Alpha 20/21 Roadmap

1) Unity Update

• TFP will be working with Unity devs directly

2) Random Generation Update

• New stamp tech that will allow artist created features such as mountains, hills, rivers, etc. to be placed in biomes. There will be a stable of different land features for the game to choose from.
  
• Additional controls in the map generation interface to give players more options for terrain generation such sliders to determine mountainous vs flat (for example).
  
• Biome selectors and city selectors to allow users to control the density of these map features.
  
• 6k, 8k, and 10k map sizes planned
  
• City tile system randomly places city buildings into tiles so that they are aligned well with each other and city streets. Multilayered for sewer systems below groundlevel buildings and the ability for ends of one tile to match up with those of an adjacent tile so that everything generates looking consistent and aligned.

3) Vehicle Mods

• Tinting mask will allow vehicles to have color details added to differentiate vehicle owners better
  
• Fuel Saver
  
• Off Road Headlights
  
• Super Charger
  
• Expanded Seat
  
• Reserve Fuel Tank

4) Shape Menu and Building Update

• Shapes are shown as shaded drawings of blocks
  
• Blocks from the shape menu are placed as particle board blocks that function the same as frame blocks
  
• Simplified upgrade path: Frame/Particle Board -> Wood -> Stone -> Concrete -> Steel
  
• Blocks destroy to air. They do not downgrade.
  
• 14 categories and over 1000 shapes

5) Dynamic Imposters

• Changes to the world and player built forts will be represented in distant terrain

6) Micro Splat Improvements

• Better terrain blending

7) Feral Sense Game Option

• Set zombies to different states of awareness from dumb to feral
  
• Stealth still works but zombie senses are heightened so stealth play is much more challenging
  
• Settings are: Off, Day, Night, All

8.) Biome Difficulty

• Snow and Desert will have gamestage boost creating tougher enemies and better loot
  
• Wasteland will have a greater gamestage boost creating even tougher enemies and even better loot

9) Pipe Weapons for Primitive Tier

• Pipe Rifle
  
• Pipe Pistol
  
• Pipe Baton
  
• Pipe Shotgun
  
• Pipe Machine Gun
  
• Pipe weapons craftable from backpack without need for schematic
  
• Lever Action Rifle Tier between Bolt and Sniper
  
• Many weapons reskinned to apocalyptic art style

10) Trader to Trader progression

• Details Coming

11) Loot Progression and Gamestaging Improvements

• Details Coming

12) New POI's

• New Gas Station (shown to reveal Restore Power Quest
  
• Over 145 new POI's and many new props and environmental decorations
  
• New Tier 3, Tier 4, and Tier 5 locations
  
• Many legacy POIs updated

13) Dynamic Music and Ambient Audio Improvements

• Details Coming

14) Environment

• Weather changes more often and has more variety
  
• Wind dynamically affects leaves and plants and wind will gust
  
• Improved textures for environment art
  
• Temporal Anti Aliasing option with a separate sharpening option
  
• New mesh generation, shaders and lighting for plants and grass and optimized colliders
  
• Bedrolls can be recolored during placement
  
• Fuse Boxes updated and made into triggers

15) Quest Improvements

• Digging Quest improvements
  
• Tier 3 Digging Quest added
  
• Tutorial Quest uses the beacons to point out nests and rocks

16) Restore Power Quest

• Lights go out when rally marker is activated
  
• Find the generators and repair them
  
• A block trigger system added with multiple triggers, like switches, and can be on a layer. Blocks, like doors, can respond to them by doing something such as opening or closing.

17) New Zombies/ Entities

• Trader Hugh
  
• Nurse
  
• Drone
  
• Screamer
  
• Fat Cop
  
• Burnt Zombie (cold, hot, flaming)
  
• Hoodie Dude
  
• Lumberjack
  
• Radiated Zombie with AOE acid bursts
  
• All legacy zombies have been converted to new HD standard
  
• All traders have been converted to new HD standard
  
• Bandit models have been started for A21

18) Twitch Integration

• Streamers and Audience can interact through the game
  
• Chat commands to help or harm streamer

19) AI and Sleeper Improvements

• Zombies can duck and crawl through areas that are less than 2-meters but more than 1-meter
  - - - -
  
• Zombies include 1-meter holes in their paths and can crawl through them - pushed to A21
  
• Wandering Sleepers - pushed to A21

20) Character Overhaul - Pushed to A21

• Replace UMA system with in-house custom system
  
• Thematic outfits will work like books. Wear the complete outfit and get a completion perk
  
• Current 10 armor/clothing slots reduced to 4 slots for outfits that will merge both clothing and armor values. No more clipping issues of wearing clothing under armor. Better balance on number of mod slots available to use with outfits.
  
• Outfits are another feature that will help build the foundation for the future implementation of bandits
  
• A lot of this has been started already by those who have finished work for A20 and have moved on to A21 work

21) Water Overhaul - Pushed to A21

• Details Coming

[crunchyfrog]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von 🐯Tiger Mask🐯:

38 minutes ,this is the time I waited for a single player session. I just friking wasted 38 minutes to try it on a single player session. I played on mp servers but I wanted to see in single player all the weapons ,changes and all that stuff. WTF is this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥?

That's down to your system.

When you create a new rando world (and dependent on the size of said world) there are a number of things that can slow things down, as this is a REALLY intensive calculation it needs to do.

It's nothing to do with the alpha mind. It's ALWAYS been the case.

So, it can be dependent on your CPU, I/O, RAM, and of course, hard drive.

First time I played 7DTD on PC when I bought a new laptop last year, it was similarly painful - it took around twenty minutes to load in. So I had an SSD ordered, and when it arrived I moved the game across to that.

It created a new world in under well three minutes.

So just a heads up.

[LooMit]

hope the stable version comes out soon , this buggy ♥♥♥♥ keeps reseting my player levels so i cant play atm even made a new map .....

[Ramar]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von LooMit:

hope the stable version comes out soon , this buggy ♥♥♥♥ keeps reseting my player levels so i cant play atm even made a new map .....

Are you serious?! wow! you mean you will be a level 20 one minute and then go back to level 1? I've not heard of anyone having that issue. THAT would drive me insane! :)

[crunchyfrog]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von LooMit:

hope the stable version comes out soon , this buggy ♥♥♥♥ keeps reseting my player levels so i cant play atm even made a new map .....

Well, you need to bear in mind it IS experimental as this is how they releases things. It's meant for you to have a nose at.

[tenkakicks]

The past 2 years have been wasted adding things that weren't needed and neglecting things that are.

[--E@T TH3M!--]

Every single alpha is just "hey new models HD textures higher resolutions new animations new models AGAIN wow colours new HD textures AGAIN oh look HD-ER TEXTURES AGAIN!!!", with barely any new features. And then they smack on ridiculous nerfs that involve slapping unnecessary RNG on things and claiming it makes the game 'more challenging'.

No wonder the game is still in alpha. At this rate, it should jolly well just stay in alpha, because their butts will get teared open a new one should they release this game 'fully'.

[Hexerin]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von --E@T TH3M!--:

their butts will get teared open a new one should they release this game 'fully'.

Why do you think it remains the flagship example in the industry of how early access is done wrong?

[trukr]

I've not been thrilled with everything they have done, but some things they have done are just really good. I haven't been playing it much for a while now, the Olympian zombies are a turn off for me, the more they please the hard core players, the less I like it. However, where as I did not get in from the start, I did get in on A12 and I feel like I have played several games. I have more than gotten my money's worth from this game.

I hope to see at least options to make zombies not jump great distances and not be so hard core, but I am certainly not going to insult TFP. I think they have done some really good things with this game. Yes, I like building huge things but don't want to use creative, repairs are part of it. Just not a fan of mega super zombies and hard core play, call me casual, meh, OK, so be it.

I don't feel cheated though.

[trukr]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Moose Knuckle:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von trukr:

I've not been thrilled with everything they have done, but some things they have done are just really good. I haven't been playing it much for a while now, the Olympian zombies are a turn off for me, the more they please the hard core players, the less I like it. However, where as I did not get in from the start, I did get in on A12 and I feel like I have played several games. I have more than gotten my money's worth from this game.

I hope to see at least options to make zombies not jump great distances and not be so hard core, but I am certainly not going to insult TFP. I think they have done some really good things with this game. Yes, I like building huge things but don't want to use creative, repairs are part of it. Just not a fan of mega super zombies and hard core play, call me casual, meh, OK, so be it.

I don't feel cheated though.

Dude you can change the settings of each world, tone down the zombies yourself if they're a problem.

Why do people think it's the devs being mean when you can literally change options to suit your play style?

Sorry if you think I was saying the devs are mean, I don't think that at all.

OK, just started a new one, I see nothing about zombie jumps, last I played they were really good and that long jump and really good at digging down bare handed.

I figure I'm not in the majority, I'm not making any demands for changes. I/m also not upset, as I said, I've gotten my money's worth. Push come to shove, once it's released I'm sure there will be cool mods. For now I have other things to play, like way too much Destiny 2.

[dias]

Обнаружил баг , если ставить туррель-толкалку на полублок и она будет толкать зомби то есть вероятность что она просто исчезнет и пропадет навсегда но на радаре ее значек останется . Пофиксите это горе разработчики и тупой лысый джоил в частности

[Foe Hammer]

How do i use the new World Generator. I've never been any good at anything like this. i tried new game, selected random gen advanced options but it just makes me use basic worlds.

1. Is the random World Gen working

2. If so, how do i use it?

Yours sincerely a computer scrub

[crunchyfrog]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von tenkakicks:

The past 2 years have been wasted adding things that weren't needed and neglecting things that are.

What a nonsensical statement.

Empathy much?

[crunchyfrog]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von trukr:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von Moose Knuckle:

Dude you can change the settings of each world, tone down the zombies yourself if they're a problem.

Why do people think it's the devs being mean when you can literally change options to suit your play style?

Sorry if you think I was saying the devs are mean, I don't think that at all.

OK, just started a new one, I see nothing about zombie jumps, last I played they were really good and that long jump and really good at digging down bare handed.

I figure I'm not in the majority, I'm not making any demands for changes. I/m also not upset, as I said, I've gotten my money's worth. Push come to shove, once it's released I'm sure there will be cool mods. For now I have other things to play, like way too much Destiny 2.

Well, see if this helps.

First off, the other user is correct - there are a wealth of options to tweak your game as you see fit. Now, you might not be able to directly tweak the activity of these new mobs, but that's because you're looking at this problem all wrong.

YOu don't need to.

Here's what you should do - tweak OTHER settings down a bit to give you the breathing space to accommodate these new zombies so you can focus more attention on them. In doing so you'll likely work out how they tend to move and so on.

Also, this gives you time to mess around will changing your builds too. This is even better for working out how they move and how you can either trap them or manipulate them.

[Hexerin]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von crunchyfrog:

What a nonsensical statement. Empathy much?

If you're going to use a word, you should probably learn what the word means first. Especially since it's basic English you'd learn in your single-digit years.

[Grandpa the gunsmith]

Ursprünglich geschrieben von crunchyfrog:

Ursprünglich geschrieben von 🐯Tiger Mask🐯:

I just installed the experimental to try it out, but when I tryed to generate a map or play the default I wait for 30 min or so or maybe more just for map to load in. In not like a have a bad pc cus I dont , it the fact that all the assest and resourses are loading so hard . I will wait for the A20 realease but if the game work bad I ll probably just hide it from the library.

Yeah, this is not endemic to the build, as frankly it's happened many times before.

Its down to a lot on your end plus the detail of what your options are for the map. A larger map is going to take longer to create, and for first generation it can take a while.

I've personally had it take twenty minutes once when I was installing from a basic external hard drive, but less than 5 minutes from an SSD. So it very much depends on your system, where the bottlenecks are, etc.

I wish the had the little symbol that looks like a clock that rotates and stops when the game stalls. this way you can report a freeze. Some freezes can be very short or really long and it can be fixed. I have seen it in other games but I don't know how to ask them. Could you guys do it.???