Game Stage

Description

Game Stage is a calculated value which represents your progression and survival skill. You can see your own Game Stage, as well as the Game Stages of other players, on the Players information screen. Game Stage is used by the game to adjust various game mechanics, including:

• The size and composition of sleeper, screamer/scout, and special-purpose hordes
• The size and composition of each Blood Moon Horde
• The probability of finding loot of particular tiers & quality levels

Calculation - Single Player

Each player's Game Stage is calculated as follows: ([Player Level] + [Adjusted Days Alive]) * [Difficulty Factor] (1.2)

• [Player Level] = just what it says on the tin - your level, unadjusted
• [Adjusted Days Alive] = the total number of in-game days elapsed, adjusted by subtracting the value of 'daysAliveChangeWhenKilled' (in gamestages.xml) for each death the character has suffered, and then capped at [Player Level] if necessary.
• [Difficulty Factor] = as of Alpha 19, this is set to 1.2, with no change based on game Difficulty setting. Previously, higher difficulty settings had higher factors and therefore more rapidly-increasing Gamestages.
• Fractional values are dropped (not rounded up)

Example 1

Player level 10, game day 8 (7 days survived), no deaths.

([Player Level] 10 + [Adjusted Days Alive] 7) * 1.2 = Gamestage 20

Example 2

Player level 10, game day 17 (16 days survived), 2 deaths. Using the default death adjustment of -2 days.

[Adjusted Days Alive] = [Raw Days Alive] 16 - [Death Adjustment] (2 * 2) = 12, capped at [Player Level] = 10

([Player Level] 10 + [Adjusted Days Alive] 10) * 1.2 = Gamestage 24

Calculation - Party

If you are in a party, then you will have a Party Gamestage which determines the types of zombies you will encounter (but not loot; see Loot Gamestage below). Party game stage is calculated as follows.

1. The highest individual Game Stage in the party is multiplied by startingWeight (gamestages.xml; default in A19 is 1.0)
2. The next highest Game Stage is multiplied by parameter diminishingReturns (gamestages.xml; default in A19 is 0.5) and added to the party total
3. The next highest Game Stage is multiplied by diminishingReturns² and added to the total
4. The next highest is multiplied by diminishingReturns³ and added to the total

...and so on...

Example

Player 1: Game Stage 100

Player 2: Game Stage 80

Player 3: Game Stage 60

Party Game Stage = (100 * 1.0) + (80 * 0.5) + (60 * (0.5 * 0.5)) = 155

Calculation - Blood Moon Horde on Multiplayer Servers

On multiplayer servers, when the Blood Moon Horde event triggers, the game considers "nearby players" (details are not specified; see gamestages.xml) as a party and calculates a party Game Stage for the purposes of the local Blood Moon Horde. If any nearby players log out or log in during the event, the local "party" Gamestage will not change

Loot Stage

Loot Stage is the effective level used when you open a container (and the game checks against any Loot Stage-controlled loot tables). In single-player it is simply your Character Level as modified by perks and apparel (e.g. the Lucky Looter perk). In a party, the effective Loot Stage for all party members is the highest Loot Stage in the party (see loot.xml); it does not use the Party Game Stage calculation shown above. Additionally, any perks or items only affect the person having them, so you may want to allow the party member with the most invested in Lucky Looter, or owning Lucky Goggles, to open the big loot chests, safes, weapon caches, etc.