You can sign up to get a daily email of our articles, see the Mailing List page.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Developer The Fun Pimps is finally about to release the much anticipated experimental alpha 17 of 7 Days to Die, which should be early next week.


A recent screenshot of A17, showing off new lighting.

The last update to the game was around October last year so this has been in progress for some time now. As expected, it's going to be absolutely huge. So big in fact, that to talk about most of it here would be a bit ridiculous. Honestly, even doing some simple highlights I'm utterly lost for where to start it's so long and exciting.

Here's a few interesting things coming: They've updated Unity to bring in some massively improved lighting; texture streaming; a new party system to share XP, share quests and track their location and health; the quest system is brand new, which lets you pick up quests from traders and progress through tiered quests difficulties; the Navezgane map is more than double the original size; many new locations and many improved locations from the previous alpha; multiple new vehicles; overhauled AI system, which includes some scary sounding behaviours and absolutely loads more. To say they've been busy, would be a pretty big understatement.

You can see some preliminary patch notes here.

The actual release isn't going to be the full alpha 17, they're saying it will be an experimental public beta which will be available Monday (depending on timezones).

I spoke to the developer today, who said this about the Linux version

Monday's release is the experimental version so hopefully it will be working well but it is an incomplete version that we are seeking feedback about so that it can be completed. There is an equivalent linux version built alongside the windows and mac versions so hopefully there won't be issues but can't promise anything.

Across this weekend, some livestreamers were given access to test it out, you can see a list here. Sadly we didn't get in on that, as we only have around 3.5K Twitch followers (our channel here) whereas you needed at least 5K.

As long as the Linux version runs well enough, our livestreamer Sin will be taking a look next week as soon as she can.

It's currently on sale on the Humble Store with 64% off, good time to pick it up.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
14 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
22 comments
Page: 1/3»
  Go to:

Ehvis Nov 17, 2018
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
I'm sure Sin will love the new "radiated vulture". :P
Liam Dawe Nov 17, 2018
Quoting: EhvisI'm sure Sin will love the new "radiated vulture". :P
Brace your ears for impact ;)
Lolo01 Nov 17, 2018
I love this game and would like to try coop mode.
silver Nov 17, 2018
My favourite game. ^_^ I hope they have managed to fix it so it doesn't crash that often anymore. It uses Vulkan now I think (?)
Jollt Nov 18, 2018
Can't wait for our server too! Will be great playing with everyone again :D

PS: Steam sale in 4 days, the game might be around 75% discount so if you don't have it wait a little more and get it :D Totally worth all prices either way.
14 Nov 18, 2018
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
I played this game for a short while with some co-workers and I got bored somewhat quickly. I also couldn't stand the ugly graphics. The fact that the game hasn't been updated in a year means that I don't regret forgetting about the game for so long. If this huge update is cool and runs well enough, I will jump and and check it out. I didn't find the current version enjoyable enough, even with people to cooperate with.
haiku Nov 18, 2018
Shame but i never enjoyed this kind of zombies shooting game. That said i enjoyed Outcast 2 very much
razing32 Nov 18, 2018
Had so much fun on this.
Played with a bunch of friends and i have some good memories.

1.While being chased by wild dogs i run to my friend in the house and tell him to close the door. He steps OUTSIDE and closes the door. Death by dog"

2.We go scavenging at a gas station and fight zombies and we accidently shoot a red barrel. Half the gas station us and the zombies disappear in a cloud of smoke.

3. Dividing tasks with my friends (i was cementing the house) and when i log in after a day see my friend dug a hole through a MOUNTAIN. Literally an afternoon of digging to get to the other side.
WorMzy Nov 18, 2018
Will be interesting to see if The Fun Pimps actually come through this time. Historically they've been very lousy with their Linux/Mac support, uncommunicative when they break the various builds, and pretty shitty to people who ask them about what problems they're facing. It would be nice to see that they've grown as developers and actually test their builds before they release them, and are open and communicative when things go wrong. They might actually make it off my blacklist if they can demonstrate that.
Alloc Nov 18, 2018
Quoting: WorMzyWill be interesting to see if The Fun Pimps actually come through this time. Historically they've been very lousy with their Linux/Mac support, uncommunicative when they break the various builds, and pretty shitty to people who ask them about what problems they're facing. It would be nice to see that they've grown as developers and actually test their builds before they release them, and are open and communicative when things go wrong. They might actually make it off my blacklist if they can demonstrate that.
Suppose you're talking about pre A10? From that time on I always tried to make sure no one was left out with new releases and I definitely gave as much support to everyone on the forum as possible considering I also have to work on my dev tasks ;)
(Yeah, there was this one alpha (14 iirc) that had a broken OpenGL shader for a while ... would have liked to fix that but no clue about shaders myself and the graphics dev back then was busy with other stuff unfortunately. But it was communicated)

So far this release seems pretty stable though :)
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.