State of Decay 2

[JON22]

Got it on Game Pass. Just loaded it up and adjusting gamma. Thought it crashed as I couldn't adjust it. It was just the game freezing up for a couple of seconds just like the first one. First bug and not even in the game yet lol.

 

Is there no public multiplayer? I'm seeing friends and invite only (I have no 'friends' on my list). Was looking forward to joining with randoms.

Edited May 22, 2018 by JON22

[jpm1]

the game itself is good. everything has been improved from SoD 1. bases are nice. i love the dark nights, that force you to use your brain. if you plan well no way you can die. but if you rush you can have some nasty encounters . love the lootable technologies for the base too. and the crucial outposts that provice your base with basics, like fuel or electricity. special Z that i hate in 1 are very rare. love the blood hearts, and the besieged base things. when you do too many noise in the base, or you don't eradicate enough blood hearts. you get hordes attacking your home. there is also a nice bunch of bugs too . hope the devs will patch this soon, because the game itself is good, in pure Romero spirit. Here few pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

infected, broken weapon, but got these fools

Edited May 22, 2018 by jpm1

[DexMacLeod]

I've been mostly glitch free so far but recently encountered a pretty big and really weird one. Whenever I got in a car the camera would get stuck and refused to follow me. It would still point at me though so no matter how far away I got I could still kinda tell where I was going.

 

The really weird part is that as I drove that way for a little bit Zombies were attracted to me like I'd never seen before and seemed to be spawning out of nowhere. I probly had a good 25-30 zombie horde behind me, so I stopped, backed up into them and almost instantly the van I was in started on fire. Luckily I was close enough to my base that I was able to run back and hop over the fence but that was probably the closest I've come to death so far.

 

Tried a few of the other vehicles that I had around base and they all did the camera glitch. Didn't drive far enough to test if the zombie spawning happened again. I was able to switch characters and all was fixed, though I haven't tried switching back to that character yet.

 

One thing I hope they manage to fix in a future patchis dealing with other enclaves. I've gotta group of mechanics I try to take care of because they can get me cars but it doesn't matter how loyal I've been, everytime they ask for something it warns me that they'll leave town if I don't get it for them. And it's always, ALWAYS something my camp is already running low on.

 

Even just trying to have conversations with them can be a pain in the neck because their bases are even less secure than yours so they're constantly running off to kill nearby zombies. Speaking of which I once had a car ride with a companion who kept trying to tell me about herself but got cut off anytime we drove anywhere near a zombie. The whole ride was "Okay, where was I?" "Oh sh*t, a Zombie!" over and over again.

 

 

Got it on Game Pass. Just loaded it up and adjusting gamma. Thought it crashed as I couldn't adjust it. It was just the game freezing up for a couple of seconds just like the first one. First bug and not even in the game yet lol.

 

Is there no public multiplayer? I'm seeing friends and invite only (I have no 'friends' on my list). Was looking forward to joining with randoms.

I think when you're in the game if you go to your radio (up on the d-pad) you can offer to help other people or ask for other people's help.

[Doctor Holliday]

While I really enjoyed State of Decay 1, I'm a little worried by just HOW SIMILAR this game looks to the first. It seems like some immense recycling has taken place... from basic assets and textures and models to much of the map layout and world design. Are there any new GAMEPLAY features aside from the spreading virus? I can't really figure out what's new about this new game. I'm glad they're not charging 60 bucks for it but it still seems like it could've merely been an expansion to the original.

[HaRdSTyLe_83]

Never played the first one, and for 29.99 i figured i could give this one a try. Only downer for me is its only selling on the shi#ty microsoft store

[jpm1]

as i said everything has been improved. well balanced AI, deeper base customization, almost endless characters personnalities. characters evolve with time. you can make them become chemistry experts, gardening experts, for each one it takes time to make them evolve, and loosing them is great loss. graphics are better, not very much but still. bases are way cooler than in 1. you can have humans as enemies too. if you never respond to their SOS calls, they will threat you as enemy. you can loot bonus tech for your base installations, that will increase productivity (compost for garden..). upgrading a base takes longer than in 1, and thus strenghten the strategical aspect. same for dark nights. in 2 nights are very dark. you can't see above 60 m. how many times i stopped, and waited for the sun on a roof, or a water tower. it's awesome! outposts are more strategical than in 1. in 1 they just unlocked inventory. now they can provide crucial supplies for your installation like water, fuel, or electricity. to be able to unlock them you need to win xp fighting Zs. the 'blood hearts' which are plague contamination nests are tense, and cool to eradicate. no way you can do it with just a machete. you need explosives, you need to loot them or make them. cars behaviors and sounds are better too. yeah few buildings look like to 1 ones. but it's not just a copy/paste. for example the abandonned barn with the ladder is much cooler in 2. the game is definitely a great game. but it's bugguey, probably caused by the constraints of the partnership with Microsoft. the AI is really good in 2. just right between easy and hard. when you attack a feral, or a nest, you never know if you will survive. but for some reason, if you prepared correctly, you survive. and each time you come back home alive it feels rewarding

 

my home

 

 

 

my new ride

 

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by jpm1

[Doctor Holliday]

Fair enough.

Like I said, really enjoyed SoD 1, and at this point I haven't played a good zombie game since Dying Light.

 

For only 30 bucks I think I'm gonna' bite the bullet and download the PC version this weekend

[JON22]

My car fell over touching a barrier lol. And I've had this annoying bug where a white line appears in the upper half of the screen at night. Other than that great game.

 

I also like reading the traits when choosing your starting survivors if you skip the tutorial.

[HaRdSTyLe_83]

And I've had this annoying bug where a white line appears in the upper half of the screen at night. Other than that great game.

 

 

Same here.

 

 

my home

 

 

 

 

im just a few hours in and my base sucks can you move to other bases later ?

[jpm1]

m just a few hours in and my base sucks can you move to other bases later ?

 

yes you can but you will need influence to do so. influence is not difficult to win though. you can win a lot by trading with other clans, and/or itinerant vendors

 

 

never had the white line bug. but i have another annoying one. of my partner that suddenly disappears. i need to reload the last savegame each time. i reported to the devs

[trip]

I can't wait to move to a new base. I need more build spots!

 

I have abandoned cars everywhere and I always seem to forget. I'll see a car nearby on the map when I really need one. I'll trek my ass over to it only to be reminded that it is one of my cars that got hung up on some geometry.

 

I'll tell ya what...this game teaches you to be a careful driver.

[darthYENIK]

I only get the glitches where you get a mission, go to where you have to kill a specific zombie type, and none are spawned there.

[jpm1]

i reported a couple of bugs, and got this interesting answer from the support.

'Hello,

We’re sorry to hear you ran into some technical issues, but thank you for reporting them!

Our goal with this Technical Beta/Public Test Realm is to identify these types of issues in order to create targeted content updates, so this info is a great help to us. We will pass this information along to the Technical Support team so they can log it.

Thank you for participating in the Public Test Realm!

State of Decay 2 Technical Beta Support'

 

it's a beta.so keep sending them your bugs, and/or suggestions

Edited May 31, 2018 by jpm1

[HaRdSTyLe_83]

does this game have an end? i just cleared all plague nests and moved to a second map and started all over again in the bigger base i found

[jpm1]

no, no end. you switch between the 3 maps. but it seems the more you do so, the more the threat increases. and it makes the game challenging.

btw. did you meet the cannibals. when a bunch of guys invites you to a nice BBQ with good meat, that means they are provided with fresh meat in an apocalyptical world. and that means you shouldn't trust them. that's what i love with that game you never know what's gonna happen. and you can die in seconds if you rush your preparation. these guys didn't fool me however. i smelt the thing, and came with a partner, full health, and armed up to the teeth. but i feel a bit bad because once i provided them with meat

my base is besieged

juggies training

 

small edit:

if you want to include the game in your steam library. you need to use the following shortcut: "shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.Dayton_8wekyb3d8bbwe!AppStateofDecay2". you will get a small launch error each time you start the PC, but nothing serious. here's a logo i made for me (hope the upload won't deteriorate it)

edit 2: in case you wondered if cars armors were worth it (warning spoilers)

Vagabond, light armor

Rhames V, intermediate

Vandito, heavy armor

Edited June 1, 2018 by jpm1

[DexMacLeod]

On 5/31/2018 at 6:07 AM, jpm1 said:

i reported a couple of bugs, and got this interesting answer from the support.

'Hello,

We’re sorry to hear you ran into some technical issues, but thank you for reporting them!

Our goal with this Technical Beta/Public Test Realm is to identify these types of issues in order to create targeted content updates, so this info is a great help to us. We will pass this information along to the Technical Support team so they can log it.

Thank you for participating in the Public Test Realm!

State of Decay 2 Technical Beta Support'

 

it's a beta.so keep sending them your bugs, and/or suggestions

The beta started on May 1st and I'm pretty sure it only lasted a week or two. I'm pretty sure you just got an automated response that hadn't been updated. It would be incredibly unethical and probably illegal to release and charge money for a Beta Test game without announcing it as such.

 

In other news, they just released a patch today and it's 19.5 gb! It's still downloading so I can't really vouch for how much has changed but it sounds like they fixed the issue with the doors which was the only consistent glitch I encountered. I had one of my pre-order cars delivered and it seems to have spawned under the map so hopefully they fixed that too.

[jpm1]

it could be an automated thing. but charging for a beta isn't illegal. i mean they do it all the time on Steam. It's called early access. didn't see the patch. hope big bugs are fixed

[DexMacLeod]

I said it was probably illegal to release a Beta and pretend it's a finished product. The Early Access program makes it very clear that you're paying to test a game. Xbox has a very similar program which would make it even more unethical to release a beta into the regular marketplace.

[GTA3Rockstar]

I like it.

 

I wish it had the customization like 7 days to die did. Being able to build up your fort from the ground and stuff, would've been solid

[jpm1]

in 1 modding allowed that. but the thing being now a Microsoft app, i find you'll have to wait for a Steam version, to see mods coming around again

[darthYENIK]

It was a chore, but I think they fixed the demanding enclaves with the patch.  It’s much less stressful in the last 24 hours.

[Doctor Holliday]

I'm going to keep this short while still working on my final thoughts for a more detailed review... but so far it's not looking good. I've had the chance to dive into State of Decay 2 this week and - for reasons I'll elaborate on later - I'm afraid it's not quite living up to the hype. I'm disappointed because I really enjoyed the first game. So part of this experiment is still ongoing; I'm going to reinstall State of Decay YOSE this weekend and compare the gameplay to State of Decay 2.

At this point I think State of Decay YOSE is the superior game but I need to double check and make sure it's not just nostalgia that is coloring my perspective. There are already enough bugs and weird gameplay / quest problems in SoD 2 that I want to be sure I can remember the differences from the first game correctly before I just lambast the second game. There are some very weird gameplay decisions in SoD 2 that really hurt the sense of immersion and enjoyment from pathfinding issues to the physics of the world itself.

I think I've lost like 4 vehicles already to the HORRIBLY DESIGNED geography of the game map. Little pebbles and small rocks and (seemingly) tiny shrubs that have upended my cars or trucks and rendered them undriveable, among other small gripes, are really getting in the way of my fun... I'll have more thoughts on this later.

[DexMacLeod]

Well, YOSE will be more stable for sure just because it's got two DLCs and years of post launch support but I think 2's upgrades to the base/outpost systems alone make it a better game. It's certainly better than State of Decay was at launch with the whole "your community can die even if you're not playing the game" mechanic.

I've read a lot of people seem to be having trouble with the cars and I don't get it. I've gotten my cars stuck a couple times but it was usually me being stupid and trying to drive on something I shouldn't. I've got three cars stuck in the river right now but that's because I somehow didn't see the giant tree branches right in front of me.

My biggest problem with the cars is that they often seem to not accurately read what speed I'm going at. There's been a few times when I'm ramming Zombies near a building and even though I slow to a crawl just before making contact with the building it still reads as if I was going full speed into it.

Has anyone switched maps yet? I'm coming up on Day 20 or so and even though I've still got quite a few buildings left to loot I'm finding that I get very little out of them. I'm thinking it might be time to start trying to figure out how to leave. I've also been mostly ignoring my plague hearts though, I'd kinda like to get those cleared out before I move on. Conflicted.

[jpm1]

yeah, you get stuck with cars if you don't pay attention to the road. and when you get stuck in 97% of the cases you can unstuck them with another vehicle.

yeah i swtched between the 3 maps already. they all have cool bases, except one. the one with the windmills have bases that i don't like personnally. but the 2 others have cool bases. when you switch you carry with you all your inventory, except the modified cars

[trip]

Another way to unstick a vehicle is to have a friend join your game, sit in the stuck car while you drive away in another car.  Because of the tether mechanic in co-op your friend and the vehicle will respawn off of the offending geometry.

[darthYENIK]

On 6/2/2018 at 2:55 PM, darthYENIK said:

It was a chore, but I think they fixed the demanding enclaves with the patch.  It’s much less stressful in the last 24 hours.

A day later.  Still much better.  The first week of playing, I would just get to a point where I would give up after an hour.  Enclaves would hate me, my own community resources were dwindling due to the lack of time to get them in between missions for other survivors.

 

There is one thing.  It’s not a big deal.  I’m not anti-woman.  But it feels like women outnumber men in this game.  By a good 5 to 1.  I encounter very little male survivors.  My own community is 5 to 1.  It was 4 to 2, but a Juggernaut ripped one in half, and I replaced him with a girl with a Marty McFly vest.

[jpm1]

2 hours ago, darthYENIK said:

But it feels like women outnumber men in this game

sad truth

[darthYENIK]

I don’t know if I’d call it sad.

[trip]

I'm going to call my first two communities my trial communities.  

 

It was my third honest go that felt like I was playing for keeps.

 

My community is forever cheerful, extra cars parked outside loaded with rucksacks in their trunks as extra storage...an infestation pops up?...roll on over and take care of it.  Neighbor needs a hand?...  Sure, I got that.

 

I had my first death last night.  It hurt.

[JON22]

I love this game. Would be better if real time was still on it, as that added to the stress of the first game. Plan to buy it when I can but for now I'm playing through Game Pass. It's currently the only game where I can play for hours without touching my tablet to search the internet out of boredom. I hardly had any sleep Sunday and Monday because of noisy neighbours but as soon as I played this my tiredness went away.

 

Also love some of the music, especially Fields of Red.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2018 by JON22
Because.