Settings which seem to give a fair replication of the old spawning system

[SonOfAtlas7]

Over the last few weeks I've been play testing different settings to try to get the feel of the old spawn system back and get rid of nearby "beam ins" (which I hate, and I see a lot of others here hate also..), testing was often confounded by the fact that adjusting one setting made other settings produce different results, but I've come to a set that seem to work well in having puppets & animals spawn into a wider area just before the player enters and stay in the area without any "randoms beaming in" or "hordes appearing", like the old system.

So others who miss the old spawn system's realism and immersion, if you want to give these settings a try, these are what I've found work best so far to achieve this:

scum.MaxAllowedCharacters=70
scum.EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=3.000000
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=1.000000
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=3.000000
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTimeMultiplier=3.000000
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnBatchSizeMultiplier=1.300000
scum.EncounterCharacterAggressiveSpawnChanceOverride=-1.000000
scum.EncounterCharacterAINoiseResponseRadiusMultiplier=1.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=0.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=0.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=0.000000
scum.EncounterHordeBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeActivationChanceMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeNoiseCheckCooldownMultiplier=1.000000
scum.EncounterHordeSpawnDistanceMultiplier=100.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupRefillTimeMultiplier=2.000000
scum.EncounterCanRemoveLowPriorityCharacters=1
scum.EncounterCanClampCharacterNumWhenOutOfResources=1
scum.EncounterGlobalZoneCooldownMultiplier=1.000000
scum.SpawnEncountersInThreatZonesIgnoringBaseBuilding=0
scum.EnableEncounterManagerLowPlayerCountMode=1

These produce 'in-the-distance' type puppets and animals as you enter an area (though not as well as the pre-horde spawning system did), a decent amount of wandering puppets, no "beam-in" random puppets appearing near you, and a decent amount of time the area will remain clear without being refilled with puppets again once you clear them.

If it's too many puppets spawning for an area set these to '2' (or below) instead of '3':
scum.EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=2.000000
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=2.000000

Some areas of the map produce 'popcorn puppets' still, this seems to be more of an unavoidable bug right now that the settings don't seem to prevent (as some areas of the map were producing them even on stock standard settings too), hopefully it will be patched at some point.

[GBAX]

Thankyou for the testing and the efforts put in so others may enjoy the game.

I have spent way too much time on the settings and have not successfully been able to replicate what was pre-horde. After messing with settings I have had various results. Too me these setting are designed for dedicated admins of servers so that the game is dynamic.

IMO if you put scum.EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=0 puppets dont spawn in as the encounter but you are left with the base amount of puppets that are already set in the LTZ etc. Side note, this was funny before. If you have the max distance set, you could watch them spawn outside of town and run into town to the place where you triggered the spawn.

Seeing your max character limit was intriguing to me as I leave it max. I am now thinking of how the character limit may impact the local spawning. Thankyou.

I entered the below when the new spawning came in and it seemed I could get puppets spawning way outside the area and posted a vid of puppets acting strangely.
When I mess with settings and after hours of changing them I am probably seeing things that aren't there, but it appeared they affected the spawn. Would need someone to confirm or developer.
Removed the settings when encounter manager came in and again it appeared different but this maybe because of the encounter manager. I have not done testing since the bug fixes.
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTime=100
scum.NPCSpawnDistance=100
scum.NPCSpawnRadius=100
scum.CharacterSpawnDistance=100
scum.CharacterSpawnRadius=100
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistance=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnRadius=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistanceMultiplier=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnRadiusMultiplier=100

[SonOfAtlas7]

Originally posted by GBAX:

....
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTime=100
scum.NPCSpawnDistance=100
scum.NPCSpawnRadius=100
scum.CharacterSpawnDistance=100
scum.CharacterSpawnRadius=100
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistance=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnRadius=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistanceMultiplier=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnRadiusMultiplier=100

Are these manually-entered settings? As I don't see the NPC settings anywhere in my serversettings ini file.

[Brobocop]

Hi SonOfAtlas7,

We're actively developing the horde system, which remains a significant project requiring tweaking, fixing, and balancing. Our goal is to enhance the game's realism and elevate the survival experience to new heights. We appreciate you sharing the settings values, allowing some players to recreate the survival experience from before the horde update.

Rest assured, by the time SCUM reaches its full release, the horde system will be fully operational according to our standards. We anticipate it will be widely regarded as a substantial improvement over the old puppet spawning system. Thank you for your patience and support.

[NoDMoD]

Originally posted by Brobocop:

Hi SonOfAtlas7,

We're actively developing the horde system, which remains a significant project requiring tweaking, fixing, and balancing. Our goal is to enhance the game's realism and elevate the survival experience to new heights. We appreciate you sharing the settings values, allowing some players to recreate the survival experience from before the horde update.

Rest assured, by the time SCUM reaches its full release, the horde system will be fully operational according to our standards. We anticipate it will be widely regarded as a substantial improvement over the old puppet spawning system. Thank you for your patience and support.

Hello Brobocop,

hope you don't mind me giving some feedback aswell.

Not sure what these values exactly stand for:
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTime=100

puppets should under no settings respawn after 2 minutes, which does happen on standard settings.

Also puppets should never spawn right on top or behind of the player. No one wants that.
The minimum distance for the lowest setting has to be ncreased dramatically.

Can you explain what exactly these multipliers affect?
scum.CharacterSpawnDistance=100
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTime=100

[EchoMGM]

I've been playing with these options for a day and I like it. The towns are no longer empty.

It also seems that there are more animals. Since I reinstalled the game 4 days ago I haven't seen any and... it has nothing to do with the thread, but when I started the plane a wolf approached me and, well, something strange happened...
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3206176053

[Arcticus_X]

Originally posted by SonOfAtlas7:

Over the last few weeks I've been play testing different settings to try to get the feel of the old spawn system back and get rid of nearby "beam ins" (which I hate, and I see a lot of others here hate also..), testing was often confounded by the fact that adjusting one setting made other settings produce different results, but I've come to a set that seem to work well in having puppets & animals spawn into a wider area just before the player enters and stay in the area without any "randoms beaming in" or "hordes appearing", like the old system.

So others who miss the old spawn system's realism and immersion, if you want to give these settings a try, these are what I've found work best so far to achieve this:

scum.MaxAllowedCharacters=70
scum.EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=3.000000
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=1.000000
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=3.000000
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTimeMultiplier=3.000000
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnBatchSizeMultiplier=1.300000
scum.EncounterCharacterAggressiveSpawnChanceOverride=-1.000000
scum.EncounterCharacterAINoiseResponseRadiusMultiplier=1.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=0.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=0.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=0.000000
scum.EncounterHordeBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPerPlayerMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeActivationChanceMultiplier=0.100000
scum.EncounterHordeNoiseCheckCooldownMultiplier=1.000000
scum.EncounterHordeSpawnDistanceMultiplier=100.000000
scum.EncounterHordeGroupRefillTimeMultiplier=2.000000
scum.EncounterCanRemoveLowPriorityCharacters=1
scum.EncounterCanClampCharacterNumWhenOutOfResources=1
scum.EncounterGlobalZoneCooldownMultiplier=1.000000
scum.SpawnEncountersInThreatZonesIgnoringBaseBuilding=0
scum.EnableEncounterManagerLowPlayerCountMode=1

These produce 'in-the-distance' type puppets and animals as you enter an area (though not as well as the pre-horde spawning system did), a decent amount of wandering puppets, no "beam-in" random puppets appearing near you, and a decent amount of time the area will remain clear without being refilled with puppets again once you clear them.

If it's too many puppets spawning for an area set these to '2' (or below) instead of '3':
scum.EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=2.000000
scum.EncounterExtraCharacterPlayerCapMultiplier=2.000000

Some areas of the map produce 'popcorn puppets' still, this seems to be more of an unavoidable bug right now that the settings don't seem to prevent (as some areas of the map were producing them even on stock standard settings too), hopefully it will be patched at some point.

Thank you,going to add these and test.

[GunnzAkimbo]

The setting
scum.EncounterCharacterAINoiseResponseRadiusMultiplier=0.100000

Allows you to sit at a high spot and ping off the Z's to clear an area for exploration.

[GnArZx]

Originally posted by SonOfAtlas7:

...

Thanks, now it feels way better without all that buggy horde BS.

[SonOfAtlas7]

Originally posted by Brobocop:

Hi SonOfAtlas7,

We're actively developing the horde system, which remains a significant project requiring tweaking, fixing, and balancing. Our goal is to enhance the game's realism and elevate the survival experience to new heights. We appreciate you sharing the settings values, allowing some players to recreate the survival experience from before the horde update.

Rest assured, by the time SCUM reaches its full release, the horde system will be fully operational according to our standards. We anticipate it will be widely regarded as a substantial improvement over the old puppet spawning system. Thank you for your patience and support.

The crux of the problem since Horde Update was released has been that players have hated randomly appearing puppets, especially in areas where players have already checked there were none moments before, it breaks realism and immersion, and I - like many others - bought the game for the realism aspects above all else. So the Horde Update was a huge 'kick in the teeth' to many players in that regard.

Now that the last patch enabled the ability to set Horde spawning to zero, it's a step in the right direction again.

[GBAX]

Originally posted by SonOfAtlas7:

Originally posted by GBAX:

....
scum.EncounterCharacterRespawnTime=100
scum.NPCSpawnDistance=100
scum.NPCSpawnRadius=100
scum.CharacterSpawnDistance=100
scum.CharacterSpawnRadius=100
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistance=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnRadius=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnDistanceMultiplier=50
scum.EncounterCharacterSpawnRadiusMultiplier=100

Are these manually-entered settings? As I don't see the NPC settings anywhere in my serversettings ini file.

I manually entered the settings and tried to emulate the wording so some of the lines are just different wording to see if I could get a result. For example
scum.NPCSpawnDistance=100
scum.NPCSpawnRadius=100
are old settings that I believe used to be in the INI file.

I figure that there are presets that the current INI file overwrites and take the thought by adding in settings this could also overide settings that we cant see. They do take settings in and out so there maybe some hidden ones that we can change.
With a developer coming in and responding I was hoping they would confirm.



I tried the low count on character and nothing was spawning so Im doing something wrong.

[SonOfAtlas7]

It's so nice to see puppets wandering 400-600m away again as you enter areas :)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3210741665

[SteelBlood]

Any idea which settings increase "Wild" spawns? I walked into a town and the streets were nearly empty.

[NoDMoD]

Originally posted by SteelBlood:

Any idea which settings increase "Wild" spawns? I walked into a town and the streets were nearly empty.

That's my setting:
scum.EncounterBaseCharacterAmountMultiplier=3.000000

[NoDMoD]

Originally posted by SonOfAtlas7:

It's so nice to see puppets wandering 400-600m away again as you enter areas :)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3210741665

Setting the spawn to far away will cause some wierdness when entering POIs like police stations, they can be empty when you enter, then you leave (to get screwdrivers from the car) and get back, and they suddenly spawn, because it was only triggered when you moved away.

[ssmurf]

Originally posted by Brobocop:

Hi SonOfAtlas7,

We're actively developing the horde system, which remains a significant project requiring tweaking, fixing, and balancing. Our goal is to enhance the game's realism and elevate the survival experience to new heights. We appreciate you sharing the settings values, allowing some players to recreate the survival experience from before the horde update.

Rest assured, by the time SCUM reaches its full release, the horde system will be fully operational according to our standards. We anticipate it will be widely regarded as a substantial improvement over the old puppet spawning system. Thank you for your patience and support.

With all due respect, if you change something major and it is as broken as the current spawn system, wouldn't it make sense to roll back those changes and fix the obvious issues in-house?