u/lurkerfuckwit

Per Sunny Games, 8 days ago:

If you signed to alpha test on console, you are SOL. There will be NO console alpha. Beta? Maybe.

Apparently, lots of people have been caught breaking NDA. Stop fucking doing it. You could potentially derail the release of the game.

There have been many MANY more updates to the games since Brian and Sunny's showcase videos. Sunny claims each and every one has made the game much better than the early alpha videos show.

The results of the buyout have apparently allayed the worst fears of most in the know.

Possibility of him doing a sit down interview with studio head Phillip Holt. He wants feedback on whether fans want that, but the new owners may or may not oblige.

Caveat: The complete absence of negativity, or so I feel, from Sunny about SoD3 makes me wary of his testimony being paid advertising. But there's no proof one way or the other.

1. All measurements for your position and spotters are in the center of the starting grid squares. However if you move position, all bets are off.

2. Learn to skip the shot calculator. The game mechanics are simple enough you can do it with the desktop calculator and only 1 calculation.

3. Elevation is calculated as a simple ratio against max distance (number of powder bags) times 60 degrees.

4. The fast traverse lever, when moving from max speed in one direction to neutral, takes 8 degrees to stop.

5. Wait to use emergency move until AFTER your final shot impact. Fail, and you've just wasted 65 req points because it will restart the timer.

6. Flight time is also proportionate to max distance. Ex: 2 bags means 10km. It takes 38 seconds for the shell to travel whatever the max distance is. You're shooting at 6, flight time is 6/10 * 38.

I hope they can implement a system beyond just cosmetic clothing.

Ex: Riot Armor. Reduces melee damage at the cost of a weight and stamina penalty.

Ex2: Combat Rig. Decreases reload time, extra ammo storage at the cost of a weight and stamina penalty.

Ex3: Exercise clothes. Lightweight, reduced movement noise at the cost of increased damage from all sources.

Ex4: Hazard suit. Timed immunity to gas/infection clouds at the cost of a weight and stamina penalty.

Ex5: Firefighting gear. Timed immunity to fire/explosion damage (can still be staggered) at the cost of a weight and stamina penalty.

Ex6: Plate Carrier. Reduces damage from firearms at the cost of a weight and stamina penalty.

Base clothing should have a basic reduction in damage, but very minimal. If you aren't wearing special clothing, you get the base clothing stats. And perhaps other clothes could have non-combat bonuses.

Ex7: Welding Jacket. Increases crafting speed. Multiplies crafting bonuses by 20%

Ex8: Medical Scrubs. Increases medical action speed. Multiplies medical bonuses by 20%.

Ex9: Gardener's Toolbelt. Increases gathering speed. Multiplies harvest site yield by 20%.

Ex10: Chef's Coat. Increases cooking speed. Multiplies yield and morale bonuses by 20%.

Caveat: Sunny plays on Lethal only.

Bloaters are snipers. Latest changes have them kamikaze a lot. Still being tweaked.

Screamers stunlock if you are close while they scream. Caused many deaths.

Ferals are much MUCH harder to deal with. He resorted to the car almost every time.

Juggernauts are suicide without good guns. Pistols are useless. Still being tweaked.

Better to focus characters to a specific playstyle rather than hybridize.

Heavy attack is primary. Kiting is crucial. Light spam is a waste of stamina.

Locked/Alarmed containers always spawn a feral and horde.

Regular zombies are much more dangerous. More like L4D speeds.

Plague Nests have personalities. Some surround you, some beeline for you with infestations

AI survivors can help and save you in the open world. Don't count on it.

Bites inflict up to 30% infection and chunk your health.

Outposts do nothing except function as loot dumps. No bonuses yet.

You must assign survivors to man facilities or harvest sites.

You can make and level up a survivor by crafting only.

Powerhouse upgrade downs all zombies in a certain radius of your special attack.

Ramming slows down your vehicle. No more momentum free cheese.

Plague Nest Phases will spawn a Juggernaut.

1. How many levels can a survivor get? 12, enough to max out all 4 skills?
2. How many facility upgrades can you have? Can you do the entire tech tree?
3. Are said fac upgrades persistent, or do you have to redo them every time you rebuild?
4. Do locked/alarmed containers just instantly spawn a horde and feral nearby?
5. Do Ferals no longer just instantly know where you are by smelling you within 25 meters?
6. Are there no longer melee skills that let you instakill zombies?
7. Will there be a reskill mechanic? For instance, you have 4 construction, and you need a medic. Can you train one to become a medic instead?
8. You can no longer dodge behind an alerted zombie and instakill them?
9. Can you upgrade the base defense walls?
10. Are there any disabling moves like SOD2's leg cutting or circular shove?

1. Exploding pustules at Plague Nest. Can kill anything less than a juggernaut if detonated near them. Easiest way to kill Ferals. Can also kill you.

2. Freaks now have rage mechanics.

3. Light and Heavy melee attacks for regular weapons and knives.

4. Slide attack and flying attack (second not shown). Apparently devs did not intend for the slide attack to let you pass through small openings, but Brian did it on stream.

5. Executions on downed zombies using rifles and pistols.

6. Runner zombies, with armored and plague subtypes. Think L4D speed.

7. Radio call to take found vehicles back to base. Costs fuel, requires additional survivors.

8. Locked containers and Car Alarms. Open them if you dare. No more search crashes.

9. Cross platform Cross Save, as explicitly confirmed by Brian.

10. Food and Drink Buffs. Have to decide whether consumable loot is scavenged for Core Resources or used for performance buffs.

1. Lethal SOD3 makes Lethal SOD2 look like kindergarten. "7 zombies is a death sentence."
2. Undead Labs is still a really small team, probably sub 50.
3. All Special Zombies are still WIP.
4. All vehicles have massively increased trunk space, and can be upgraded.
5. Random AI encounters in the world outside enclaves. He got saved by Doug.
6. The map is more like 9x the size of any SOD2 map. And still in development.
7. Will ship with only one map on release.
8. Up to 3x bases
9. "Level 3 Infestation is super scary."
10. Bloaters are tanky unless you shoot them at the right time. Can be assassinated.

1. Inventory that goes by weight instead of slots. For both backpacks and vehicles.

2. Alternatively, let us store a full backpack in each trunk slot in a vehicle.

3. Bicycles. Why not? Quiet way to move around fast.

4. Non-cosmetic clothing. Let us craft or find armor. We should be able to choose going out for scavenging or combat. Ex: Plate carrier that doubles reload speed, Motorcycle armor that reduces melee damage.

5. In the military, we drop packs in a firefight for mobility. A scavenger in the apocalypse should be able to dump their bag to save their own skin and come back for it later.

6. Masks, respirators for plague areas. If you enter, you should have a time limit before ambient infection kills you, unless you prepared countermeasures.

7. Field crafting. At this point in the timeline, a scavenger should be capable of making rough bandages, splints, and a soup can with rocks distraction without having to find a workbench.

8. Lockpicks and shims. Locked doors should be a much more serious obstacle than "just shoulder check it" to get through. Also, have locked vehicles with good loot inside.

9. More military vehicles. Where's the Bearcat or Stryker? Why don't the humvees have roof turrets? Why can't we mod pickup trucks into technicals?

10. Missions when claiming utility buildings. It should take some work to get an electrical substation, pump station, or radio tower working. Maybe scavenge parts to fix broken components, or find manuals to learn how to operate the place.

11. Assign people tasks. You should be able to have community members go scavenge for resources independently or make deliveries. You should not have to do everything by yourself.

12. Sell services. If you need influence, put out a call on the radio asking enclaves if they need medical care, welding/cutting, extra hands, and get compensated for being a good neighbor. Alternatively, craft narcotics and sell them.

13. Craft base defenses. Pitfalls and punji traps, electrified fences, hedgehogs to stop juggernauts and ferals (If they lunge and hit, they impale themselves).

14. Craft tripmine, booby traps and barricades. If you infiltrate a place and want to hold off hostiles, you should be able to tape a grenade to the doorframe and tie a wire to the pin across it. Or something similar.

15. Prone or barricade shooting. Whether you're sniping from your base roof for fun or trying to destroy an infestation from a safe distance, being able to rest your weapon to improve accuracy should be an option. Of course, it would make you vulnerable to runner ambushes.

16. Craft car bombs. If you find a sacrificial vehicle, you should be able to load it up with explosives and send it someplace. Nice option if you want to quickly kill a plague nest in the late game. Ram it in there, bail and get out, then detonate remotely. Expensive and wasteful, but the explosion would be beautiful.

17. Signal flare for help. If you are in deep shit, fire a flare and hold out until your crew or an allied enclave gets to you. If you kick the bucket, at least they can quickly salvage your gear.

18. Binoculars and better scouting mechanic.

19. Wheelbarrow or wagon for moving large amounts of loot on foot. Also, be able to assign a group member to move it and follow you.

20. Metal blunt weapons that do not break. A metal bat or steel pipe should be forever usable if the hardest thing you hit with them is bone.

1. More zombie variety than just armored and not. And Plagues are tougher than normals.
2. Pistols don't reliably oneshot on headshot anymore, unless you are sharpshooter
3. Special zombies are generally faster and more dangerous. Feral especially.
4. Searching is much faster.
5. Backpack capacity is a bit larger, 12 spots.
6. More resources to farm.
7. Infestations are now Plague Hearts.
8. Plague Hearts are now Plague Nests.
9. RPG Item quality color coding
10. Vitals have numbers on display.
11. No minimap/radar.
12. Reloading is MUCH slower.
13. Far less special zombie density compared to SoD2.
14. Nests have explosive nodes that can kill ferals if you shoot them.
15. Buildings don't tell you how many places to search anymore.
16. Strong cloud effects that block visibility.
17. No sign of animals, weather or seasons yet.
18. Buildings seem bigger and more spacious. Some have more verticality.
19. Juggernauts can enrage and are generally much faster. Wonderful.
20. Graphical fidelity is much more immersive, as you'd expect with 8 years of time to improve.

Convoy attack missions: attack a large force accompanied by allies. Main target could be a galleon or man o'war.

Convoy escort missions: escort a group from one area to another, fend off pirate attacks.

Coast battles: fight pirate ships and shore forts. Break the parapets to disable the fortress guns.

Sea monsters: pleiosaurs, serpents, krakens attacking a fleet as rare random encounter. Attack and drive off/kill the enemies to get valuable drops. Ex: Eye of the Kraken, Serpent's Horn as crafting materials for legendary weapons and armor.

Bounty missions: hunt down lieutenants and ships to draw out a target. Kill or sink for valuable materials/money.

Reprisal missions: make a big enough mess, and Blackbeard fleet attacks a faction base. You aid them in destroying the attack and get rewards based on your efforts.