7 Days to Die

Unless those optimization fixes actually work, they need a lot more work. That game becomes slideshow in certain biomes, even outside of blood moons

Cybsled said:

Unless those optimization fixes actually work, they need a lot more work. That game becomes slideshow in certain biomes, even outside of blood moons

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The overhaul mods are worse with all the added zombie particle effects.

I loved 7 Days to Die. Over 500 hours into it.

But I really started to loathe the developers sometime, shit, maybe like 5 years ago at this point, where it seemed like they had a contempt for their players. Base building was awesome and it was fun figuring out ways to outsmart the zombies and put them through a ringer that would crush them.

The devs saw it and decided to introduce bullshit tactics for the zombies like digging (which I think maybe got removed at some point?), but eventually just kept designing new workarounds to make it so building bases - what the game is probably strongest at - wasn't worth it anymore.

And then not long after that, they decided to go with the whole mini-dungeon crawl thing. Which was okay. Not bad, but not great either.

I just miss the days of alpha 14 or 15 I think where base building was the game's strongest point.

Gravel said:

I loved 7 Days to Die. Over 500 hours into it.

But I really started to loathe the developers sometime, shit, maybe like 5 years ago at this point, where it seemed like they had a contempt for their players. Base building was awesome and it was fun figuring out ways to outsmart the zombies and put them through a ringer that would crush them.

The devs saw it and decided to introduce bullshit tactics for the zombies like digging (which I think maybe got removed at some point?), but eventually just kept designing new workarounds to make it so building bases - what the game is probably strongest at - wasn't worth it anymore.

And then not long after that, they decided to go with the whole mini-dungeon crawl thing. Which was okay. Not bad, but not great either.

I just miss the days of alpha 14 or 15 I think where base building was the game's strongest point.

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Yes, Alpha 16 is where they added a huge block damage multiplier to any zombie that couldn't path to you, so they just immediately blast through your traps/wall.

It killed underground bases as being viable at all, which I hated because I always loved making bunkers.

Alpha 21 drops Moday.

Been playing the A21 experimental build over the last few days and it's pretty good. Many QoL improvements. The new skill system takes a little getting used to since you have a bit less control over what you unlock when, but I don't hate it. Looks like a stable build too, played to day 27 and it hasn't crashed once.

Lambourne said:

Been playing the A21 experimental build over the last few days and it's pretty good. Many QoL improvements. The new skill system takes a little getting used to since you have a bit less control over what you unlock when, but I don't hate it. Looks like a stable build too, played to day 27 and it hasn't crashed once.

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The fact they prioritize skill books to match what you've spec'd into helps. But yes, the RNG can be frustrating early on.

I'm not a huge fan of it. It's just a fucking retarded amount of books you need. Feel like my entire playthrough is just trying to find books. That said, all the rest of it is good shit. Although I did go into a city today while it was raining and my FPS went into the shitter.

I liked back in the day when you got skill points by using whatever it was (e.g. use a spear, get spear points, build shit, get building points). Apparently Darkness Falls does this. I think once it gets updated for A21 I'll play it.

I can remember if that's the one I played years ago. I just remember one mod that was brutal where I got killed by panthers and tigers and shit over and over.

The books aren't bad really. You just want to get 1 pt. into the skills you want asap instead of focusing on the couple skills you used to.

Are horde bases still based entirely around abusing pathing exploits because of the huge damage bonus zombies get against blocks if they don't have a path to you? If so, game is still trash no matter what they add.

Gavinmad said:

Are horde bases still based entirely around abusing pathing exploits because of the huge damage bonus zombies get against blocks if they don't have a path to you? If so, game is still trash no matter what they add.

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I've not seen any exploitation of pathing. Bases are designed around the concept that zombies will path to player no matter what. If they don't have a "clear" path, they will wreck shop to make one. The definition of a "clear" path however, doesn't necessarily mean they can reach you without effort. And most bases line this "clear" path with traps to most of the heavy lifting on a horde night before the zombies even reach the player.

Gavinmad said:

Are horde bases still based entirely around abusing pathing exploits because of the huge damage bonus zombies get against blocks if they don't have a path to you? If so, game is still trash no matter what they add.

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You can change zombie block damage. Yes, zombies will still always go least path of resistance to you.

You can focus certain PoI's to get specific skill books, i.e. kitchens will have cooking books often, tool stores have tool making books etc. I used to only run the missions but it's definitely worthwhile to just roam around town picking certain stores.

As to horde night, this basic design has so far served me well in A21, just did day 35 horde with it. Took longer than before to get concrete manufacturing up but you can buy some from trader to reinforce key parts if you have to. First 2 horde nights I just used cobble.

So I kicked around on A21 a bit, and then a little for a day or two after stable. I decided to try something else in the event I can convince my friends to give this one another go (think we've played it two or three times over the years, usually fizzling out around the 3rd or 4th horde night.

So I decided to try out Darkness Falls. Super fun, although that's not why I'm posting. It only runs on A20 at the moment. While I was playing A21, I knew it looked a bit better, but holy shit it's incredibly noticable when you go back. The optimization is also much better, where things like loading and world gen are extremely quicker (in fairness, the loading may be partly the mod as it's massive). My FPS drops to shit in cities in A21, and runs Darkness Falls much better, but that could just be that my PC is getting old.

Most of all the QOL stuff is massive. Oddly, it seems like a few things were borrowed from the modders, like trash and feather piles exploding when looted. But stuff like shelves emptying is hugely helpful in looting, and when it doesn't happen in A20 makes me sad.

So most of all, now I'm waiting for DF to be updated for 21. It makes me a bit sad that one guy can crank out a dozen new vehicles that fit the motif, and the vanilla devs have been running with the same shit mostly for a decade.