So, I haven't posted before but I'd like to comment on the migration mechanics. I've skimmed through some of the larger posts but I won't quote them at length; most of this post discusses the migration system and gameplay generally. Build is 32.6 The Migration System:: The good news is that this feature has added a good deal to the game. The bad news is that the zombie hordes are tuned in such a way as to be either be harmless, because they develop their mass too slowly, or outrageously dangerous since the compounding growth overwhelms players. This player tried two settings: Spawns every daySpawns once a weekEvery Day: The difference between the two variations is a cliff in difficulty. The first setting -- every day -- seemed to me to be too much -- nearly every residential area or area with supplies was flooded within two months and it became increasingly difficult to manage or otherwise reduce the hordes. After a certain point the effectiveness of the player against the hordes began to level out -- molotovs and bombs were in constantly short supply. I found myself constantly moving around diffuse and omniscient hordes and entirely unable to engage in 'late game' farming. I of course died during a supply run trying to get more bottles. In this game the destruction of my first base happened within a month; the second base was largely incomplete before I found myself engaging in zombie management; which I found to be not very fun and nervewracking. I am not certain the game should punish players if they avoid 'mowing the lawn' as it were. However, if NPCs are introduced this entire situation may change sufficiently to make the current rate tolerable. Once a Week: Comparatively, the second setting is too slow but 'reasonable'. In this game, the situation is much the same but the hordes are managed: I have set up at the Giga-Mart in West Point and have barricaded the south section of town off. There is a vastly reduced need to manage the hordes, given that they spawn at a rate 1/7th of the prior game. They are still dangerous and I still must raid residential areas for bottles and supplies, but I can at least engage in late game activities -- such as farming -- without a catastrophic attack destroying the entire base. However, as more time has gone on -- 4 months in -- supplies and equipment are dwindling and non-renewable items are picked. When NPCs are introduced I expect the town to be entirely picked within a month; the raw lack of valuable items or the fact that they are containerized in certain areas -- hardware stores come to mind -- makes this entire situation problematic from a gameplay perspective. Tl;dr: 1 day spawns seem too much and 7 day spawns are possibly too little given prevailing gameplay mechanics. From here I'd like to talk about other gameplay issues that occurred to me while playing. Commentary about NPCs & Spawn Rates: Future mechanics -- such as NPCs -- should also be factored in when determining zombie spawn rates and behavior. This author can envision that current zombie spawn rates would actually be feasible if NPCs were introduced or otherwise in the game to manage the zombie population curve (as stated). Without this management, it is left to the player to keep the 'town ecology' to a reasonable level through firebombs, petrol bombs, and other things. This creates an odd game where the player must behave in an "I Am Legend" fashion where he/she sallies forth to wipe out the major infestations of zombies before they can properly migrate to his base. Further, this might have a troubling interaction; there will be an increasing resource bottleneck and more zombies with no real assurance that the NPCs will thin out the large herds. Firearms Balance & Hordes: In response to 1-day zombie spawns, what is to be done? The gut response by players, such as yours truly, would be to disperse the hordes with firearms. However, the shotgun/gunfire creates far too much noise for the current revision, unless the developers have in their intent that firearms be used for specific situations or away from urban areas or against players/NPCS. As of current the vast swarms drawn by gunfire make such weapons useless for their seeming main purpose -- crowd control and distance killing power. Instead, continued firing merely increases the size of the crowd and makes such weapons useless when compared to molotovs or flame based weapons. Given the relative availability of molotovs and petrol bomb components when compared to shotguns or small arms, this seems like an odd gameplay mechanic. In any event, shotguns and small arms have a contrarian effect: they seem to be desperation weapons, but they simply seem to make one's situation worse: deciding to expend precious ammunition to defend a base from a horde seems intuitive, but it will just draw the remaining hordes. This, as stated, seems odd. It may be asserted that firearms are exclusively for deployment against NPCs or other players -- which would explain sandbags -- but this seems to fly in the face of most zombie lore which sees a fairly consistent deployment of firearms. I merely raise this situation as a question. Other Things: The current passage of time (growing weeds, cracks in buildings) seems too fast. While some of these are indeed reasonable, the cracks should maybe give way to increased trash on the roads. I realize there are more "fluffy" aesthetic considerations in development, such as ruined cars, but the passage of time. Most importantly from this point, I'd suggest leaves from trees: those seems to be missing, or, if it is in, I haven't noticed it sufficiently. With that said, I think the erosion and deterioration of the town really adds quite a bit to the game: it merely needs some alterations or more effort thrown into it. In Closing: In closing, I'd like to thank the developers or friend readers for looking through this post.
