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Gas 2 Go


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Hola gang. Here’s the latest slice of Monday.

BUILD 38

Build 38 is fully baked, but requires two roof-rendering fixes to player-made bases from ChrisW who’s beavering away at them as we speak. We didn’t want to wreck the views of solo savegame and server player bases with a public release, and will be patching in further tweaks to the system (improved peeking, fairer window/zed visibility at NW corners etc) after release.

In the mean-time there’ll be a new public IWBUMS beta release tomorrow with other general/necessary pre-launch bug fixes from RJ and Connall.

VEHICLES

With the current vehicles beta soon to transform into Build 39 this week we’ve had extra hands descend upon it. Yuri will continue to oversee physics issues, car shadows, visible damage and general vehicles performance – meanwhile Steve will be providing optimization support game-wide, and now RJ is in amongst it working on gameplay aspects like realistic vehicle spawning, the Mechanic skill, gas used during journeys and the like.

[In the meanwhile Turbo will continue to work on his devices code, work will begin on the next big map update and Bitbaboon Mark will continue to work with the PZ team with the new animations for integration into the build(s) that follow.]

In terms of Build 39 RJ has begun this work with Vehicle build 19 (directions on how to access here) in which he transferred aspects of Yuri’s work into the overall PZ zoning system, added Mash’s latest textures for burnt-out cars, balanced attributes of particular cars, restarted work on car keys and added various Sandbox options to let players tailor their vehicular PZ experience a little better.

Build 19 also introduced some of Yuri’s fixes to vehicles in co-op and MP, so that will hopefully make for a smoother ride online – with less disappearing cars and loot.

Over to RJ for a brief word on his automobile work:

“Up until Vehicles Build 19 properties like engine condition, maximum speed and how much gas a car had were purely dependent on where the vehicle spawned. So at the moment I’m giving each car some individuality, although spawn area still matters as a vehicle spawning in a beautiful neighbourhood won’t have the same condition as something found in a trailer park.”

“Also now in the vehicles build the amount of gas consumed by a car is no longer static – previously you lost a set amount per-tick, but now it depends on various things: stuff like the total mass of the car and your loot, engine quality and the speeds you’re travelling at. So gas usage will really depend on how you use the car.”

“I’ve also made sure that when driving on non-tarmac surfaces cars will be slowed – and ultimately damaged if you’re driving over bumpy wilderness.”

“In terms of car spawning zones – that should now be improved, although spawn numbers will likely still need balance. Not every zone is done but where I’ve done work then cars should be appearing in more accurate places, burnt out cars should be appearing in junk yards and trailer parks, and ‘special’ vehicles like the Spiffo’s truck should be parked outside the Spiffo’s restaurant. Still to come is work that’ll make the way that they’re parked look a bit more ‘natural’.”

“Until Build 38 is released and I need to get back onto bug fixes I’m also working on engine power, car keys and locked cars, and balancing general vehicle stats. We’re also finalizing the ‘Mechanic’ skill design doc, and should be getting the sign off from the rest of the team this week.”

OPTI-MISSION

Optimization is currently vital as the vehicle build is careering towards a wider audience. As such Bitbaboon Steve’s opti-mission continues – chalking up two more FPS salves that we’ll test out in the Vehicles Build (Build 39) towards the end of the week, and also spotlighting something funky deep in the PZ engine rendering system that’ll require further investigation.

To aid him in his quest we’re investigating an update from lwjgl2 to lwjgl3 – which is no simple task, but has been on the ‘must do’ tasklist for a fair while. We’re at a point with it that should help Steve a fair amount when he dives deep into the rendering code, but when it reaches its full fruition then this will hopefully make for general better running of PZ, remedied display issues and general headache easing.

OTHER STUFF

  • Connall’s work on the ‘small things that make a big difference’ suggestion list continues, with the integration of imperial measurements (pounds, miles, Fahrenheit etc) to make our American audience feel a little less like… they’re in a European zombie apocalypse.
  • We’ve stolen Nasko, our community manager, away from his actual real world workplace for a month or two to work on revamping the PZ Wiki – so it’s more accessible and better structured for community efforts. If anyone has any thoughts, or maybe even would like to help him on his quest when details need to flood the system, then please give him a shout.

A general list of stuff added to PZ, and vids of features being worked on, is kept here – so you don’t have to plough through endless Mondoids for info. 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 hereOur Discord is open for chat and hijinks too.

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We’re also finalizing the ‘Mechanic’ skill design doc,

 

not so sure about the need of an extra skill for Mechanic - why not use the Metal and Electro skill in combination?

 

Would be better to flesh out the skills we have than to create new skills which are also not sooo usefull...

 

I still believe the skillls should work together more and depend on each other...

 

other than that.. cool stuff guys :D thanks

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58 minutes ago, M'aiq The Liar said:

Cool stuff and all but when might there be some updates on animations? I know it's a "no no" to ask but it's been a pretty long while since any progress towards release has been shown.

As you said it's pretty much a "no no" sittuation for a good reason, it would be wise to keep it that way, plus surprises are way better though :D

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1 hour ago, King-Salomon said:

 

not so sure about the need of an extra skill for Mechanic - why not use the Metal and Electro skill in combination?

 

Would be better to flesh out the skills we have than to create new skills which are also not sooo usefull...

 

I still believe the skillls should work together more and depend on each other...

 

other than that.. cool stuff guys :D thanks

 

As a guy who has worked in an auto shop and also lives with people of all three skills, no, a mechanic skill would take priority over all of them for having much more to do in the real world than both combined. Mechanical skills as a whole involve the other two to some degree but do not by any means blanket-cover even half of the things it takes to fix a car.

 

You absolutely need electricians and metalworkers if you are building a structure. However, once the job is done, it's off to find another job, and jobs aren't always plentiful. Cars always need to be worked on. Tires need to be filled, rotated, replaced. Oil changes need to be made regularly. Car fluids for various important systems... oil, transmission, even the wiper fluid and others is important to keep an eye on, as unfortunately vehicles don't self-regulate and maintain them themselves.

 

Transportation is important. Welding is useful, and is also used in automotive applications... but not regularly, as hammering dents out and fabrication isn't exactly a welding skill as it takes vehicle-based knowledge. The electrician skill is also connected, but not as much in any place where either of them could remotely cover what it takes to fix a car

 

Let's say a headlight goes out and you have no idea what's wrong. Do you call a welder? Do you call an electrician? Or do you call a mechanic? An electrician might be able to say "hey, that' could be a broken filament"... but how does the electrician get to the bulb to know that? A mechanic would know how to take out the headlight and remove it, as it isn't as easy as reaching your hand inside the engine compartment and unscrewing it like you would with a conventional lightbulb. It could be deduced by looking at the headlight from both sides and having the know-how to piece together what needs to be done to remove the headlight, but wouldn't be a quick deduction to somebody who has never done it before, and is worried about damaging other components in the process. That's actually the most generous example I can think of because completing an oil change, replacing and rotating tires, and replacing mostly any part in a car could not be done solely on both forms of knowledge.

 

Would a metalworker or electrician know how to complete an oil change, rotate tires, tune the timing, etc.? I certainly didn't learn any of those in woodshop, welding class, or the electricity unit in science, but I did in an auto shop. Rebuilding an engine is a lot more complicated than some would think.

 

That would be the why-not for having it solely be a metal-electro combination.

 

My point is, it wouldn't fit in a game that claims to be realistic since neither of the skills cover any of the knowledge needed to complete most basic repairs to a vehicle. There is ways to flesh those two out that don't involve cutting a skill that is plenty common to see and also totally relevant to maintaining a vehicle.

 

 

Edited by Kim Jong Un
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I think that optimizing the game itself and preparing it for introducing cars takes a higher priority than the rest of things that we're requesting right now. We should instead look at the good side. A stable car build with no lag or frame drops or even 1/3 of what is now will surely improve things and help get 39 and beyond into place. Not to mention the influx of new/old players coming back or buying the game which will help both the community and the Dev's. If optimizations are made then even a player like me with a potato pc could play with no difficulties on medium settings. I say that we wait a bit longer since build 38 will include the roof optimization also, which has been requested and badly needed. Once these things are out the Dev's can work more on other things that we players are waiting for. Right now it might not seem like much but they are doing a great job, as small as each one is. Keep rocking!

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9 hours ago, Kim Jong Un said:

 

As a guy who has worked in an auto shop and also lives with people of all three skills, no, a mechanic skill would take priority over all of them for having much more to do in the real world than both combined. Mechanical skills as a whole involve the other two to some degree but do not by any means blanket-cover even half of the things it takes to fix a car

 

....

 

My point is, it wouldn't fit in a game that claims to be realistic since neither of the skills cover any of the knowledge needed to complete most basic repairs to a vehicle. There is ways to flesh those two out that don't involve cutting a skill that is plenty common to see and also totally relevant to maintaining a vehicle.

 

 

 

Fair points, but I am not talking about "knowledge" I am talking about "skills" - if you understand the basics of electricity and metallworking (or maschine working) [Skill] you can repair an old car IF you have the knowledge  (not the new ones but the old ones) [Recpt/Knowledge]

 

The point is, you have more or less useless skills in the game - and combining them for SKILL (not knowledge) might help the game

 

your points are good but they can achived by getting the know-how with books, magazines etc rather that adding a new skill which is only usefull again in lvl 1-2 imo :)

Edited by King-Salomon
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9 hours ago, Kim Jong Un said:

 

Would a metalworker or electrician know how to complete an oil change, rotate tires, tune the timing, etc.?

 

 

I agree, but in the oppiste sense a Mechanic should have a skill point in electrician and Metalwork, im sure most mechanics can connect a generator for example.

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8 hours ago, King-Salomon said:

 

Fair points, but I am not talking about "knowledge" I am talking about "skills" - if you understand the basics of electricity and metallworking (or maschine working) [Skill] you can repair an old car IF you have the knowledge  (not the new ones but the old ones) [Recpt/Knowledge]

 

The point is, you have more or less useless skills in the game - and combining them for SKILL (not knowledge) might help the game

 

your points are good but they can achived by getting the know-how with books, magazines etc rather that adding a new skill which is only usefull again in lvl 1-2 imo :)

 

I understand your point, but you cannot learn how to fix a car solely from a textbook and do it right. There's a lot of knowledge you cannot gain from pure research and must be gained through skill within the craft, same as cooking, medicine, welding. There's still a lot of skill with the science behind repairing and building a car. You can read a recipe to learn how to cook something, but doing it well so it becomes true feel-good food requires skill. 

 

You can learn how to weld through a textbook, but to actually get it to the point where it has a consistent fusion and doesn't look like somebody poured molten metal along the crease requires skill.

 

Having the skill to fix bodywork with minimal gaps between panels, install new parts without affecting another - that requires skill, and it's not something you're going to just figure out by reading about it. You can repair new and old cars alike if you have enough know-how behind how cars work and how an engine is built, and that now-how needs skill.

 

Believe it or not, most cars on the road today has issues the owner is confident does not exist (or simply does not know), and a lot of problems within vehicles are caused by owners that think they know what they are doing but really don't. 

 

It's an issue of both knowledge and skill, the same as it is with cooking and a plethora of other skills that are in the game.

 

And as long as any playstyle involves using a vehicle for transportation, I can imagine the mechanic skill will be important, especially if you are maintaining a fleet for multiple players.

 

As @NebNebber stated you'd be more likely to find a mechanic that has both welding and electrician skill than an electrician/welder with mechanical skills.

 

It would be realistic for the mechanic profession to have a point in electricity/metalworking on top of the 2/3 in mechanic skill.

Edited by Kim Jong Un
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14 hours ago, Atoxwarrior said:

Military vehicles in build 39

 

To me, it'd make sense if they wait until there are actual military locations on the map before introducing military vehicles. Would be a bit weird coming across a random military truck and having no idea where its come from. 

 

5 hours ago, Legoland99 said:

I think that optimizing the game itself and preparing it for introducing cars takes a higher priority than the rest of things that we're requesting right now. 

 

This, exactly. Optimizing what they have already so it runs as smooth as possible before trying to add more is the most logical step in my eyes.

 

 

Keep up the good work TIS. Can't wait to see what the future holds.

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