This article is a continuation of my previous article on the Alpha 15 update of 7 Days to Die. Which you can view here. In the previous article, I had talked about the details of the new update and how it has changed the game.Now, I will give some commentary from my experiences playing alpha 15.As I had mentioned, in my previous article, I rather like the new terrain and distance viewing. I am indeed excited about the new possibilities it offers for building things (as I rather like to construct buildings and make my own small towns). I have begun to explore the building possibilities, which I will get into later.

The dynamic of progression for production has changed. The change in the steel perk, the increased number of things which need the work bench to craft them, the new components, and the new things to craft have changed things. It used to be that I could get the steel perk so easily that I could basically skip iron crafting versions of things, and go straight to steel axes, and steel picks. I cannot do that anymore. Now the requirements for getting steel make it so that I have to use iron tools for a significant period of time before I can get the ability to craft their steel versions. This, in addition to the items requiring mechanical and electrical parts give the game a more staged progression. Now there are more rather distinct stages before getting to the best stuff. This adds a new dimension of fun and challenge to it.

Though I would give some tips for trying to get to the steel production level. Invest early on in resource collection and building stuff. The steel perks need a certain level in construction and tool skills in order for you to purchase them. Also, building stuff is a good way to get experience, to level up for the skill points you need to purchase the steel perks. You will also need to buy the workshop perk. While the forge makes steel, the workbench is now needed to make things out of steel. You will also need mechanical parts to make the workbench. You can’t craft them since you need a workbench to craft mechanical parts. So you need to either scavenge them or buy them from the trader. It wasn’t until after I had bought enough to make a workbench that I found out you could scavenge them by taking a wrench to air conditioners. If I had known that sooner, it could have saved me a lot of time and tokens. Also, you’ll need duct tape for mechanical parts, so collect that whenever you can. Once you get to the steel level, you can then make some powerful tools, and it opens the door for making a lot of the mechanical and electrical level stuff.

The introduction of the Trader the trader has also changed the game. Now for me the trader has become an important part of my gameplay. When I scavenge, I don’t just collect directly useful things, but things which I can sell to the trader at a decent price. I have found that the trader tends to pay a decent price for things like oil, pain killers, med kits, beakers, schematics, tires, and gun parts. Beakers, gun parts, schematics, and med kits, can often be sold for hundreds of tokens a piece. Left over stuff from air drops, book stores, and treasure quests have generated a lot of revenue for me. Though, if you sell too much of a certain item to the trader, they will stop buying it for a while. I would recommend, when possible, to set up one’s base within a reasonable distance from a trader settlement, so that you can buy and stuff conveniently. It takes a lot of trading to level up your barter skill, but once it gets to a high enough level, it can allow you to get some nice stuff.

This update has allowed me new opportunities for building. I have more extensive options for building with cobblestone, adobe, and bricks. I have more options for fencing, tables, and other decorative features. I have the new options of electrical lighting, a drawbridge, a variety of non-craftable objects I can buy from the trader (such as bookshelves, stoves, refrigerators, trashcans, pipes, and other stuff that can make buildings look furnished and realistic).

In my most recent game I have about building my new town of Lakeside. I am building it around the Ansel-Adams Lake in Navezgane, with much of the building beginning at the Northeast of the lake. I had begun with making my initial base in one of the houses near the lake. The spot offered a good location, with an abundance of natural resources, hunting opportunities, a close walk to a trader settlement to the east, with a moderate abundance of buildings to scavenge nearby. Overtime I worked on leveling up, gathering resources, and building.

In the process, I have constructed or began construction on several buildings.

I began with a manor house. It contains several rooms which will compose of bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room, a study, and a bathroom. The floors are made of wood, the first floor walls are made of cobblestone, the second floor’s walls are made of log cabin, and the roof elements include abode for the first floor, and shingles for the second. It has business glass windows. I am still working on getting all the furniture and electric lights for it.

I built a general goods store. It contains check out and storage sections, business glass windows, and fencing in the front. A cash register and electric open sign, bought from a trader, give the building a store look. A sign in the front of the building shows it’s a store. This is but one of the instances where the new signs have added to the character of my town building. Since it adds to the look and makes it clear what many of the buildings are. The store also makes a good point for storing and managing the food I grow in my farms. Of which, I have produced a variety of functional and decorative farms, around the lake.

I took an area which was dug out for clay mining, and used it to produce a mining headquarters. The building is made largely of wood, with shingle roofing. It has a first floor with office and work space, rest area, and a reception room. Stairs lead down to a basement made from the old clay mine. A ladder leads up to the roof, which allows for one to reach a guard tower, with arrow slits. To the north, I have built a stone mine, into the side of a mountain range to my north. I use it to get mining resources, and hope to build a tunnel extending to the other end of it, so that I can have an easier time getting around it.

I built a bridge connecting the northeast lake coast with one of the two islands in the middle of the lake. Since I decided to use drawbridges as parts of it, I spent while advancing to steel level and acquiring special resources. The size of the drawbridges made them a bit difficult to place right, and I came to learn that the drawbridge needs solid support under the first hinge block in order to not collapse. But the drawbridges do make a nice feature for bridges. And it could be very useful in building forts.

After I had built the bridge, I began to expand my building beyond the northeast sector. On, the north Island, I used dirt to fill in shallow inlets. I began efforts to expand the coastal dock area which already existed on the island. On part of the island near the bridge, I built an economic development office. It was a small building with a few office rooms, and signs to mark the different places. It serves as a nice starting point (both narratively and practically) for expanding the board walk, and preparing for more industrial and office buildings.

The latest building project I had started work on is an apartment building. So far, I have plotted the layout, and have done part of the general construction. When it is done, it will have three floors, 18 bedrooms, kitchen and living room areas, bathrooms, external raised porch areas (like larger versions of what the houses with forges have on the second floor), and some other spaces I haven’t quite decided the use for yet. It will be contracted largely with log cabin wood, with some additional materials, to give it a rustic, yet cultivated look.

These are the things which I have built so far for the town. I plan on building much more, if I have enough free time to finish it before the Alpha 16 update. I hope to build a full town, with houses, manufacturing buildings, offices, stores, schools, library, hospital, town hall and other government buildings, farms, roads and bridges, military buildings and fortifications, and other buildings which would make a well-established, post-apocalyptic town, on the road to restoring civilization.

So, overall I would say that the changes in Alpha 15 seem to be largely for the better. So far, it looks like it has added to quite a lot of what I enjoy in this game, and has helped to keep it fresh. I haven’t done too much with the zombie combat, multiplayer, and pvp aspects of Alpha 15 so far. Though, I am sure you can find plenty of other players, on YouTube or the 7 Days to Die forums, who can attest to those aspects. Though I can say that at least with the material aspects of the game, the update has been rather positive.