Sean Breeden

Welcome to the Alpha 20 Dev Diary. Here we will discuss upcoming features for Alpha 20.

RELEASE TARGET: "A20 Experimental released by Halloween (October 31, 2021) as long as no problems cause a delay" -- Rick Huenink CEO

"GASP!!!!" --Lathan Meadows Senior Programmer

Alpha 20 Dev Stream Videos

1) Alpha 20 First Look with Prime and Madmole October 28th, 2020

2) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream November 25th, 2020

3) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream September 8, 2021

4) Alpha 20 Developer Live Stream September 15, 2021

Alpha 20/21 Roadmap

1) Unity Update

• TFP will be working with Unity devs directly

2) Random Generation Update

• New stamp tech that will allow artist created features such as mountains, hills, rivers, etc. to be placed in biomes. There will be a stable of different land features for the game to choose from.
• Additional controls in the map generation interface to give players more options for terrain generation such sliders to determine mountainous vs flat (for example).
• Biome selectors and city selectors to allow users to control the density of these map features.
• 6k, 8k, and 10k map sizes implemented
• City tile system randomly places city buildings into tiles so that they are aligned well with each other and city streets. Multilayered for sewer systems below groundlevel buildings and the ability for ends of one tile to match up with those of an adjacent tile so that everything generates looking consistent and aligned.

3) Vehicle Mods

• Tinting mask will allow vehicles to have color details added to differentiate vehicle owners better
• Fuel Saver
• Off Road Headlights
• Super Charger
• Expanded Seat allows 1 passenger on Minibike and Motorcycle and 2 extra passengers for 4x4
• Reserve Fuel Tank

4) Shape Menu and Building Update

• Shapes are shown as shaded drawings of blocks
• Blocks from the shape menu are placed as particle board blocks that function the same as frame blocks
• Simplified upgrade path: Frame/Particle Board -> Wood -> Stone -> Concrete -> Steel
• Blocks destroy to air. They do not downgrade.
• 14 categories and over 1000 shapes

5) Dynamic Imposters

• Changes to the world and player built forts are represented in distant terrain

6) Micro Splat Improvements

• Better terrain blending

7) Feral Sense Game Option

• When turned on Zombies can sense the player from much farther away and stay focused on the optimal path to where the player is
• Stealth still works but zombie senses are heightened so stealth play is much more challenging
• Settings are: Off, Day, Night, All

8) Biome Difficulty

• Snow and Desert will have gamestage boost creating tougher enemies and better loot
• Wasteland will have a greater gamestage boost creating even tougher enemies and even better loot

9) Weapons

• Pipe Rifle
• Pipe Pistol
• Pipe Baton
• Pipe Shotgun
• Pipe Machine Gun
• Pipe weapons craftable from backpack without need for schematic
• Lever Action Rifle Tier between Bolt and Sniper
• Many weapons reskinned to apocalyptic art style

10) Trader to Trader progression

• Details Coming

11) Loot Progression and Gamestaging Improvements

• Details Coming

12) New POI's

• New Gas Station (shown to reveal Restore Power Quest
• Over 145 new POI's and many new props and environmental decorations
• New Tier 3, Tier 4, and Tier 5 locations
• Many legacy POIs updated

13) Dynamic Music and Ambient Audio Improvements

• Details Coming

14) Environment

• Weather changes more often and has more variety
• Wind dynamically affects leaves and plants and wind will gust
• Improved textures for environment art
• Temporal Anti Aliasing option with a separate sharpening option
• New mesh generation, shaders and lighting for plants and grass and optimized colliders
• Bedrolls can be recolored during placement
• Fuse Boxes updated and made into triggers

15) Quest Improvements

• Digging Quest improvements
• Tier 3 Digging Quest added
• Tutorial Quest uses the beacons to point out nests and rocks

16) Restore Power Quest

• Lights go out when rally marker is activated
• Find the generators and repair them
• A block trigger system added with multiple triggers, like switches, and can be on a layer. Blocks, like doors, can respond to them by doing something such as opening or closing.

17) New Zombies/ Entities

• Trader Hugh
• Nurse
• Drone
• Screamer
• Fat Cop
• Burnt Zombie (cold, hot, flaming)
• Hoodie Dude
• Lumberjack
• Radiated Zombie with AOE acid bursts
• All legacy zombies have been converted to new HD standard
• All traders have been converted to new HD standard
• Bandit models have been started for A21

18) Twitch Integration

• Streamers and Audience can interact through the game
• Chat commands to help or harm streamer

19) AI and Sleeper Improvements

• Zombies can duck and crawl through areas that are less than 2-meters but more than 1-meter
• Zombies include 1-meter holes in their paths and can crawl through them - pushed to A21
• Wandering Sleepers - pushed to A21

20) Character Overhaul - Pushed to A21

• Replace UMA system with in-house custom system
• Thematic outfits will work like books. Wear the complete outfit and get a completion perk
• Current 10 armor/clothing slots reduced to 4 slots for outfits that will merge both clothing and armor values. No more clipping issues of wearing clothing under armor. Better balance on number of mod slots available to use with outfits.
• Outfits are another feature that will help build the foundation for the future implementation of bandits
• Alot of this has been started already by those who have finished work for A20 and have moved on to A21 work

21) Water Overhaul - Pushed to A21

• Details Coming

Source: https://community.7daystodie.com/topic/22366-alpha-20-dev-diary/