trombonaught

Evenin’ all…
 
VEHICLES
Work on the internal test branch for cars continues, alongside Build 37 and its general bug purge, while Martin continues to pump out vehicle models and their destroyed counterparts.
 
Community feedback on the initial cars vid was extremely positive, but some people felt they ‘popped out’ from the environment a little – it’s something we’re aware of and as such he’s also experimenting with a texture to make general cars look a little more weathered, as well as muting the general colours we use a little so they fit more snugly into the PZ map tiles. The reds, greens and blues we initially used were very pure. So, behold: cars that will (hopefully) fit in with the PZ world a little better once they’re up and running in the test build.
 

 
Something else that’s a part of our vehicles build, meanwhile, is some work EasyPickins put in on zombie pathfinding that we haven’t mentioned so far. Clearly, having a bunch of movable objects on the game map adds complications (and exploits) when we have a bunch of zombies traipsing after you and providing a mounting threat.
 
As such in the vehicles branch we currently have some new pathfinding work that you can see in an early test screen while we still had the blue trucks with the wonky wheel.
Right now the path-finding seems okay, but the actual following needs some polish (there’s a few zeds getting stuck on things) but it’s a fantastic system to take into the internal testing stage of affairs. Our thanks to Tim for all the work he put into it.
 
BUILD 37 WORK
We just released Version 37.5 into the IWBUMS public beta, which follows on from last Wednesday’s Version 37.4. The latter included an update to the foraging system that means you can look for a specific sort of item (berries, plants, materials etc) that will also have the secondary benefit of unwanted items not clogging up servers – likewise the new server option that’ll allow items to set a particular number of hours before the game hoovers up unwanted items that have been left on the ground.
We reckon there’ll be one more, maybe two, fix-focused public beta releases before a full 37 launch – specifically aimed at clearing the board in terms of the bugs (many quick and easy-remedy, others not) that’ve been building up over the past few builds. Then 37’s maps, annotated maps, loot stashes and many/varied other stuff will be set loose on the world/Steam.
 
Meanwhile, as discussed last week, in other branches work on in-game devices, map expansion, optimization and making sure advances made in vehicles/anims all play nicely together all continues to bubble beneath the surface.
 
COMMUNITY STUFF
A quick nod to some of the cool stuff we’ve been seeing popping up on the forums recently. First off, IndigoRebel’s buildings look fab – an amazing eye for detail in the stores and apartment buildings. We also love the absolutely crazy Post Apocalyptic Sprites that MarcOwaR has created – although we are a little worried about his state of mind when designing a couple of them…
 
This week’s Spiffo-loving lady from Komokon over on Steam. The Centralized Block of Italicised Text would like to direct your attention to the PZ Wiki should you feel like editing or amending something, and the PZ Mailing List that can send blogs like this and patch notes direct to your mailbox. We also live on Twitter right here! Our Discord is now open for chat and hijinks too. A general overview of the content of PZ builds past, in testing and upcoming can be found here.

Build IWBUMS 37.5:
 
[Bug Fix]
Fixed If one player is wake up in MP. Other players see screen flicker black quickly.
Fixed player opening dialog window on joypad, and close on mouse will mistake the joypad focus.
Fixed if joypad contain space character in the name - The game won't save it
Fixed The players do not wake up without the alarm clock in MP.
Fixed if players wake up in MP - the second player sees black screen.
Fixed eat sounds repeated very quickly bug.

Well if I were talking about playing in a singleplayer game, I'd grind until I had the capability to move the bed without any hassle -- that's never a problem. However, in the case I'm referring to, I was playing on RP server with skill gains set to a minimum.
 
And I disagree, I've moved mattresses and bed-frames of all shapes and sizes and I've never once damaged them more than just a scuff. They're usually quite sturdy and if the frame is metal, 9/10 you don't even need tools to take it apart. At any rate, even if you were extremely clumsy, it'd be next to impossible to destroy a mattress by dropping it.

Wanted to avoid double posting, but to let you know, I've updated the post and the original topic with more info . Thank you @trombonaught for mentioning the idea in Down with the HUD! topic . 

I start in West Point, and over the course of multiple games, I've found a dozen or so Muldraugh maps, some annotated, but not one map of West Point or anywhere else.
 
Also, can you disassemble walls or wall frames you've built?  You can disassemble built fences, I assumed you could do it with walls just as easily, but I'm having no luck, though I have a saw, screwdriver, and hammer.

might not have been a bulldozer. could have been a bobcat with a scoop on the front. out where I used to live there where zippy little bobcats all over the place driving on actual roads, and a couple time I've seen them on the highway even. but a bobcat and a bulldozer are 2 very different vehicles though, but a bobcat with a scoop would still be quite useful in the apocalypse.  

This is exactly what I thought when I wrote it     Dawn of the Dead 2004 credit reel anyone?

Old topic, but actually "Counselor" could be less confusing, as at the moment the names "Observer" and "Overseer" are a little similar (especially if anyone would like to shortcut the names to first letter - A, M, O C, G, O

If we are ever on the same server I will come and MAKE you a container, if it means I no longer have to play Garbage Patrol

MULTIPLE DISPLAYS FOR FILL WOULD BE AMAZING
 
I have a "bread basket" full of worms, a "bookshelf" full of guns, a "tool shelf" full of food... guns/food/book/odds and ends differentiation would be fantastic.

You're not forced to use it on your server, it's more an option for bigger server

This whole game is all about pain with little reward... the true PZ player revels in disappointment!!

405. Annotated map should also include region name, for example "Muldraugh Map - annotated" or similar
406. Allow us to rename the maps
407. Take Fuel action should use empty gas cans first. Also, why not to use the same menu as filling water from taps?
408. Ability to use matches/lighter from bag to smoke cigarettes (I thought I saw that idea somewhere too, but I couldn't find it, so maybe not?)
409. It's really hard for me to use the radial temperature dial in ovens properly. How about clicking instead of turning?
410. Ability to unlock (but not open) doors from the inside. It seems that it is currently possible only if you have keys. It would be nice to not having to open the door potentially risking getting seen by zombies, only if you want to unlock the doors for future.
411. Restructurize Skill menu a little bit - move Firearms skills above crafting skills and merge Survival and Crafting (they are very similar anyway, for example Farming is in Crafting while Trapping in survival, and they are arguably very similar skills - that way all the skills that can be improved with books will be grouped together separately from weapon skills
412. Open Canned Beans should be used in evolved recipe
413. Use the same highlight color for highlighting doors (when hovering a key) as the one chosen for highlightng containers
414. Meat shouldn't be found on "ICE" freezers at the gas station. I think it should only spawn with cold pack and maybe some icecreams

This is a spinoff idea from two threads which have popped up regarding elements of the HUD (Help Guides for Simple Info-Trombonaught, and Unified world item picking- Faalagorn).
The big idea in both of these: What if the HUD elements could be made even less visible by weaving them more seamlessly into the gameplay?
 
Small ideas:
Eliminate:
Move Furniture
This essentially duplicates the context-menu and inventory-menu ability to move around items, but is specific to world objects and includes the ability to rotate items. The proposal is to weave together furniture management and item management into a single system contained to context and inventory menus, and eliminate the furniture icon. See Faalagorn's thread for update on discussion.
Crafting
The spirit of these menus can be reimagined into a more useable and informative literature (inventory) item referred to generally as a Help Guide. See that thread for update on discussion of what that could look like. The proposal is to eliminate the crafting icon entirely.
 
Modify:
Health
Proposal to repurpose and move this icon. This could be moved to the moodles side of the screen and display as the top moodle, which could also indicate overall health status. This would replace the "minor/moderate/severe" damage moodle and also include a "no damage" state (with a better name). Clicking the moodle would open health menus.
 
Inventory
Another "repurpose and move" idea. I believe we need on-screen "clickable" access to our inventory menus. However, I propose we add another function to the Inventory icon: The capacity moodle. Like what I suggested for the Health icon, Inventory can function to indicate your current load (fairly heavy, heavy, etc) with the addition of a "light load" neutral-state indicator. 
 
tldr; The new HUD would look like this: Two "equip" slots on the left, two permanent "menu/status" interactive moodles on the right. What do you think?

It could actually work. That would certainly save some space for all these floating windows

This whole game is all about pain with little reward... the true PZ player revels in disappointment!!

This is a spinoff idea from two threads which have popped up regarding elements of the HUD (Help Guides for Simple Info-Trombonaught, and Unified world item picking- Faalagorn).
The big idea in both of these: What if the HUD elements could be made even less visible by weaving them more seamlessly into the gameplay?
 
Small ideas:
Eliminate:
Move Furniture
This essentially duplicates the context-menu and inventory-menu ability to move around items, but is specific to world objects and includes the ability to rotate items. The proposal is to weave together furniture management and item management into a single system contained to context and inventory menus, and eliminate the furniture icon. See Faalagorn's thread for update on discussion.
Crafting
The spirit of these menus can be reimagined into a more useable and informative literature (inventory) item referred to generally as a Help Guide. See that thread for update on discussion of what that could look like. The proposal is to eliminate the crafting icon entirely.
 
Modify:
Health
Proposal to repurpose and move this icon. This could be moved to the moodles side of the screen and display as the top moodle, which could also indicate overall health status. This would replace the "minor/moderate/severe" damage moodle and also include a "no damage" state (with a better name). Clicking the moodle would open health menus.
 
Inventory
Another "repurpose and move" idea. I believe we need on-screen "clickable" access to our inventory menus. However, I propose we add another function to the Inventory icon: The capacity moodle. Like what I suggested for the Health icon, Inventory can function to indicate your current load (fairly heavy, heavy, etc) with the addition of a "light load" neutral-state indicator. 
 
tldr; The new HUD would look like this: Two "equip" slots on the left, two permanent "menu/status" interactive moodles on the right. What do you think?

Not sure exactly how to implement the following suggestion, but here's my beef.
 
When baiting traps, I find myself relying on the wiki to figure out where I place my traps and what I place in them. It would be great to have an in-game item that could be used for reference (such as a "trapper's help guide" or something distinguishable from books and magazines), or to have the information revealed gradually through trapping experience. The goal being I can learn everything I need from the game, without breaking immersion.
 
Similarly, treatment of wounds is something players need to know, but are never told explicitly. While it may be common sense for some that a deep wound requires stitches, common sense for others might not cover this information, especially if they don't know suture needles exist in the game- some sort of "first aid help guide" could be used to provide basic instruction on actions that are otherwise hidden without the correct wound and item combination.
 
Stretching the idea further, I think the crafting interface could use some refinement or smoother integration into the game. Digging through the menus which sometimes contain an exorbitant amount of mundane recipes (I'm looking at you, Farming) feels tedious and is sometimes misleading due to the omission of many capabilities (world-object creation via carpentry/metalworking, treatments with first aid, etc). I'd ask you to entertain the idea of presenting all recipes through additional help guides, perhaps grouping "help guide editions" as they appear now in the crafting menu (carpentry, survival, fishing, etc) or by some other means ("Log Work," "Primitive Tool Making," etc).
 
tldr; What if immersion were streamlined with literature documents in-game that provided "tips" information to players while having no mechanical function (no XP boost or stress reward)?
 
 
Great idea from Dr_Cox1911 reads:
 

This is a spinoff idea from two threads which have popped up regarding elements of the HUD (Help Guides for Simple Info-Trombonaught, and Unified world item picking- Faalagorn).
The big idea in both of these: What if the HUD elements could be made even less visible by weaving them more seamlessly into the gameplay?
 
Small ideas:
Eliminate:
Move Furniture
This essentially duplicates the context-menu and inventory-menu ability to move around items, but is specific to world objects and includes the ability to rotate items. The proposal is to weave together furniture management and item management into a single system contained to context and inventory menus, and eliminate the furniture icon. See Faalagorn's thread for update on discussion.
Crafting
The spirit of these menus can be reimagined into a more useable and informative literature (inventory) item referred to generally as a Help Guide. See that thread for update on discussion of what that could look like. The proposal is to eliminate the crafting icon entirely.
 
Modify:
Health
Proposal to repurpose and move this icon. This could be moved to the moodles side of the screen and display as the top moodle, which could also indicate overall health status. This would replace the "minor/moderate/severe" damage moodle and also include a "no damage" state (with a better name). Clicking the moodle would open health menus.
 
Inventory
Another "repurpose and move" idea. I believe we need on-screen "clickable" access to our inventory menus. However, I propose we add another function to the Inventory icon: The capacity moodle. Like what I suggested for the Health icon, Inventory can function to indicate your current load (fairly heavy, heavy, etc) with the addition of a "light load" neutral-state indicator. 
 
tldr; The new HUD would look like this: Two "equip" slots on the left, two permanent "menu/status" interactive moodles on the right. What do you think?

This is a spinoff idea from two threads which have popped up regarding elements of the HUD (Help Guides for Simple Info-Trombonaught, and Unified world item picking- Faalagorn).
The big idea in both of these: What if the HUD elements could be made even less visible by weaving them more seamlessly into the gameplay?
 
Small ideas:
Eliminate:
Move Furniture
This essentially duplicates the context-menu and inventory-menu ability to move around items, but is specific to world objects and includes the ability to rotate items. The proposal is to weave together furniture management and item management into a single system contained to context and inventory menus, and eliminate the furniture icon. See Faalagorn's thread for update on discussion.
Crafting
The spirit of these menus can be reimagined into a more useable and informative literature (inventory) item referred to generally as a Help Guide. See that thread for update on discussion of what that could look like. The proposal is to eliminate the crafting icon entirely.
 
Modify:
Health
Proposal to repurpose and move this icon. This could be moved to the moodles side of the screen and display as the top moodle, which could also indicate overall health status. This would replace the "minor/moderate/severe" damage moodle and also include a "no damage" state (with a better name). Clicking the moodle would open health menus.
 
Inventory
Another "repurpose and move" idea. I believe we need on-screen "clickable" access to our inventory menus. However, I propose we add another function to the Inventory icon: The capacity moodle. Like what I suggested for the Health icon, Inventory can function to indicate your current load (fairly heavy, heavy, etc) with the addition of a "light load" neutral-state indicator. 
 
tldr; The new HUD would look like this: Two "equip" slots on the left, two permanent "menu/status" interactive moodles on the right. What do you think?

I would contribute to a Patreon account or something like that. I definitely put enough time into the game to put a little more money in.
 
That said, while this could boost revenue for TIS, it would also likely boost the expectations of the fan base. If the expectations became too great, I could see this backfiring and demoralizing fans and devs alike.

395. Adjusting Mop's weight and making it improvised weapon.
396. Making Saw improvised weapon (it's sharp but unwieldy to fight). It would make it also possible to break it, makes it to potentially have more than 1 of it.
397. Make a new category for picked items - "Furniture", so it will sort properly and not appear in between other generic items.

What I would really like: make reading skillbooks more interesting in that it's actually something you (as in the player) is reading. If we stay on the subject of trapping: If you are reading a trapping book a window similiar to the Spiffo guide pops up and presents all the stuff regarding it. In the background, the timed action for reading the book will still progress.
 
The first page could be some kind of table of contents which would also be clickable to jump to a page directly.
When you've read the book it already and you read it again the window pops back up without the timed action.

Yeah, it'll make outfitting the bases a bit tedious  But on the other hand, it may have a positive side, by allowing to rotate generators? As a balance, it would be cool if one-handed holding could be implemented for a part of items, as I suggested, at least somewhere down the road.
 
On the other hand, I actually think that you could still be able to transport at least part of the items easily, given some combination - I'll have to test it in current game with corpses, but as they can be currently put in containers, you could place a bag on the ground, fill it with an item(s) and then equip the bag - though I'm not sure if the weight won't be still an issue .
 
EDIT: While browsing the small suggestion thread, I realized that the idea was also suggested loosely by @Unghin before
 
EDIT2: I just realized that "Place Trap" system for mouse traps at least already uses this item placement option. I'll update original post with the info.

This whole game is all about pain with little reward... the true PZ player revels in disappointment!!