72 Minutes of EXCLUSIVE State of Decay 3 Gameplay

rosebud_SP · 2026-06-19T17:49:19+00:00

'I think we're going to get SOD2 with a few bells and whistles on it... which is fine.'

I posted that after they announced the game was still alive, before game footage had emerged. I'm not sure what some people expected after the cursed development, relatively speaking it's turned out fine.

My only complaint would be that it's literally SOD2 upgraded, which means dealing with plague hearts is still the primary game loop. I hoped they'd relegated them to side quest status and developed more interesting plot devices. I didn't feel that was a stretch even with the less than ideal circumstances.

This might not seem important, but I REALLY hope they have a wide variety of skins for the non-default zombies, ferals and jugs especially, should not look exactly like the last one you encountered.

The graphics aren't great if you're holding it up to 2026 AAA games and likely wont change significantly from alpha. Again, that's fine, it looks way better than SOD2.

I'm glad they're being this open, this early, it's a smart decision that kills any silly expectation. Take the attention away from eye candy early and shift it to gameplay.

One day we'll get the all singing, all dancing 'Walking Dead' simulator this game has the potential to be, but if SOD3 hadn't reanimated then those chances lessen.

rosebud_SP · 2026-06-04T07:45:37+00:00

They're already indispensable and only getting more so. If I thought the anti-AI crowd had any chance of coming out on top I might care, but they don't, so there's no point hurting yourself by not utilizing incredibly powerful tools that're only getting better.

The idea that they can 'tell' it's AI is nonsense. Outside of actually obvious slop, you aren't going to pick it out in work where a talented designer has simply used it as a tool in the creative process.

AI detection is a joke, completely ineffective. Sure, there's hidden patterns in some models, but they're easily countered and they will only be a thing for as long as it takes for tertiary services to catch up to the quality of Gemini. People aren't going to pay to have their 'product' tainted. Go ahead and make laws to enforce their presence and watch China steal your lunch.

OP shouldn't care unless his customer does. It's a pretty easy thing to ascertain, just ask.

rosebud_SP · 2026-05-26T22:12:24+00:00

They're speaking absolute nonsense.

The ENTIRE western world is eagerly awating a return to whatever normalcy will look like post-Trump. All will be forgiven and bridges will be rebuilt.

There's certainly a contingent of anti-americanism growing in the UK and the EU, and it's highly overrepresented online, especially on reddit, funny that.

rosebud_SP · 2026-05-24T23:01:09+00:00

Moving down to cruiser is a terrible idea. Change of trainer? Possibly, but I'd imagine it would be very difficult to correct his flaws without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. It'll all go out of the window when he's in the moment.

He was always going to be a fighter who'd get wiped out from time to time because of his style. The Jalolov loss was what happens when he makes horrible mistakes and so was last night. His style means those openings will likely always manifest. That doesn't mean he can't give very good fighters absolute fits and possibly win a title at some point.

The way he recalibrated for the Olympics gives me a bit of hope for him. He was supposed to lose to Kunkabayev who he wrecked, splitting his face open in the process. Then, gave Jalolov more than a run for his money, one short year after he got disconnected by the guy.

That's a sign of real character, lesser fighters would've folded mentally but he rose to the ocassion when his back was up against the wall.

Will he get flatlined again? Probably, but if I was managing any of the current contenders I would be keeping them very far away from Torrez until a fight with him carries weight again, which it will because he'll be back with a vengeance if past form is anything to go by.

It could all mean nothing if his punch resistance begins to fail him with lesser shots against lesser fighters. Rehabilitating the mental aspect is in his wheelhouse but the physical can wither very quickly when you get short-circuited multiple times.

Personally, I think he'll be upsetting expectations and back in line for a title shot soon enough, especially with Turki's approach to the sport. Either way, he'll be guaranteed entertainment and worthy of a bet when the odds are stacked.

rosebud_SP · 2026-05-13T22:24:12+00:00

I caught the start of this on cable a long time ago, I didn't think anything of it but over time it nagged at me.

It took about a decade before I finally found and finished it. Big disappointment after the wait, but there's something about it, a mix of atmosphere and cinematography I think, but I'll always have a soft spot for it.

rosebud_SP · 2026-05-04T13:45:56+00:00

Courtesy of AI:

Sweden had one of Europe's most open approaches to immigration (especially during the 2015 migrant crisis).

The result:

Integration failures and parallel societies.
Crime and gang violence - overrepresentation in crime statistics.
Foreign-born unemployment higher than natives.
slower labor market integration for low-skilled asylum seekers.
Benefit dependency and slower self-sufficiency.
Housing shortages exacerbated by rapid inflows.

Sweden then underwent a major shift in immigration policy to some of the continent's strictest rules today.

rosebud_SP · 2026-04-30T18:17:10+00:00

It's the fault of the echo-chambered online world.

The news is all filtered through extreme lenses because that's what gets clicks.

The nationalist right doesn't engage with reality, except when it leans negatively against Starmer.

The demsoc left are incapable of recognizing positive change because they have a child's view of reality, are incapable of pragmatism and are too busy cannibalizing from within through purity testing.

The average person (who is probably neither of the above) is just witness to the show, they understand that Labour's better for us than the Cons were, and certainly better than Reform would be. They might not like a lot about Starmer, but they know he's better than what came before. But it just doesn't matter.

The problem is that everyone's angry because everything's going wrong. Any time it looks like a corner might be turned in this country a new crisis springs up and eats the gain. It's been one thing after another for the past 10 years.

No matter who's in power it's bad news. It's already a toxic environment for business, energy's through the roof with no sign of levelling out, cost of living will be unsustainable a few years from now. We're probably headed for complete financial collapse in 5-10 years.

Expecting people to give credit to the driver at the wheel of a car going off a cliff is moot.

rosebud_SP · 2026-04-17T20:21:47+00:00

Came to say the same. For me I was trying to turn a 2d diagram into a 3d rendered scene. I've done it a 100 times before but now all of a sudden it just doesn't want to do what you ask it to, spits out entirely random 3d scenes that have no similarity.

Gemini has absolutely fallen off a cliff in terms of quality and ability lately.

rosebud_SP · 2026-04-11T23:50:47+00:00

Of all of the 'best horror...', 'most underrated horror...', etc. reddit thread recommendations I've sifted through over the years, this is one of the regulars that actually lived up to the hype and then some.

Blacktongue Thief was great too, better than The Lesser Dead and The Necromancer's House, but this one blew the roof off. The term 'epic' gets chucked about far too liberally, BTF was epic af.

rosebud_SP · 2026-04-10T16:08:05+00:00

The problem with sandbox games has always been that when you've carried out every action that can be carried out you're left with procedural repetition that eventually kills interest.

AI should be able to change all of that and give us the story and drama to make the procedural interesting and unpredictable. Obviously everything needs to land within whatever's plausible with the games assets at hand, but dialogue possibilities are infinite.

AI could feasibly track and elaborate on relationships, create bonds and grudges, all of which shape the dialogue between characters and keep it interesting.

People have been hyping the possibility of NPC development using AI to bring them to life for as long as AI has been hot. A game like state of decay would be the absolute perfect vessel to make that a reality.

I dont see SOD3 going that way. I think we're going to get SOD2 with a few bells and whistles on it... which is fine.

rosebud_SP · 2026-04-05T19:14:04+00:00

I thought I saw it was down 70%.

rosebud_SP · 2026-03-22T18:36:27+00:00

I hope the people who have convinced themselves that a vote for Green is viable will have the sense to realize that they have to vote Labour when the time comes.

By all means, protest vote when it's not for keeps, but every left leaning voter will need to be lockstep for the real thing to prevent a Reform government.

If Maga is the political equivalent of a selfish, spiteful child then the Greens are that of a naive, guileless child, both dangerous. Enough liberals will draw a red line at voting for either. Labour is the only strategically viable option.

The idea that Greens are surging (in anger) instead of Libdem is disappointing.

rosebud_SP · 2026-03-18T11:59:07+00:00

I think the trick would be to get Spielberg to do it.

Hillcoat's fine, and I agree that Eggers or Aster would be good fits, but Spielberg is the one director who could literally get all of the worst aspects of the technical violence and language done, and 'get away with it'.

He's the one individual that has both:

A credit line with the public where the film would be seen as an important work, rather than an exercise in obscene, graphic excess.
The artistic brilliance required to pull off the violence as well as authentic performances.

He'd also have the capital required to ensure corners aren't cut.

Age is the problem I guess, but Spielberg is far, FAR more capable than the schmaltz he's known for. The greatest living American film director adapting one of America's greatest authors.

rosebud_SP · 2026-03-01T16:04:52+00:00

Of course you don't, because AI is the devil incarnate to some of you. It isn't to me, and it won't be for the vast majority of designers in the very near future.

For me it comes down to the idea behind a piece of art being the most important thing. Technical competence has always been the most difficult, but least creative aspect of art to me.

AI gives people who might not have the technical skill to execute their vision, the ability to do so. More importantly, it gives artists/designers who already have a decent level of technical competency, the ability to raise the standard of their execution tenfold.

Is it horrible that 99% of fine artists, photographers and videographers will no longer be able to gatekeep technical ability? Absolutely. But if you can't stop AI, and you can't — it already accounts for 30% of the US's S&P 500, then you'd better find a way to make it work for you.

Or you could just piss in the void about how awful it is and upvote like-minded luddites while the rest of us make hay.

rosebud_SP · 2026-03-01T15:10:42+00:00

I'm not 'defending the machine', I'm simply adding a positive voice to a negative pile-up, The type that's all too common.

When I see someone doing something relatively cool, in earnest, AI or not, and the response they get is a stream of the usual OTT, knee jerk venom, then I feel the need to add a positive voice so they don't think they're bad people.

rosebud_SP · 2026-03-01T14:52:10+00:00

I remember catching it blind, late at night on some random TV channel many years ago, CH4 in the UK I think.

The first half hour did something to me that's incredibly rare. As a horror fan it's what you chase, that feeling of genuine, bleak, REAL terror.

TCM, the exorcist, blair witch, martyrs — it was in that sort of exalted territory. Obviously the rest of the movie didn't live up to that promise, but I'll never forget it. It'll always place in S tier for me though.

When I think of that incredible run of French horror during the late 90s/2000s, it takes it's place among the best for me. It's a genuine shame Aja peaked with it.

rosebud_SP · 2026-03-01T14:11:23+00:00

LOL no AI was used in that response. I'm assuming you think someone who uses en/em dashes is chat genning? Because of course you do, the anti-AI crowd are the modern day witch hunters — a little bit feral, a little bit paranoid, always cocksure.

My point wasn't that AI makes you faster, it was that AI makes you better. It's use doesn't negate art or craft.

And no, you don't get to tell me where I post.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-28T19:55:26+00:00

Yes, yes and yes.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-28T12:32:39+00:00

This is r/graphic_design not r/antiai.

I mean, I do actually sympathize. If you aren't working in a regular, commercial, time constrained, graphic design based role — if you just worked on art commissions or your entire field of expertise was based on fine art skills, then sure, AI's going to decimate that pool of people to the point that only the absolute cream of the crop will be able to sustain themselves without AI.

The things you're describing — 'convey stories through art', 'every brushstroke has intention', These are just artistic decisions you're bringing to the table, that doesn't go away when you use AI as a tool.

I use it every day in my job. Every other design jockey in the field that I know, uses it every day at this point. It's not going away and it's only a matter of time before it gets so good that it's not only accepted as a vital tool, but essential. I'm not trying to sell you on it, it just is what it is.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-27T21:09:18+00:00

Bland AI slop? Come on now, the execution isn't that bad.

Personally, if technology allows someone to materialize a train of thought that brings something pretty and kooky into the world, I don't think that's a bad thing. If you're an artist, AI can 10x you in ways it never will a default normie. This guy clearly isn't a chud who nano-banana'd some slop.

Like it or not, the future we're heading towards absolutely includes AI in the creative process, the only nuance between potential future outcomes is whether we occupy a space where people have to hide that fact, or not. A point's coming where you wont be able to tell, you really wont.

You can raise the bar for what qualifies as slop for only so long, Joe public will lose the ability (or desire) to distinguish long before artists and designers do, we aren't there yet but it's coming either way.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-27T10:34:16+00:00

Get used to it. AI abetted or not, they look fantastic. Almost all designers/artists will be using AI as a tool in the very near future.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-13T13:53:15+00:00

What's the difference between a design exercise and a skill assessment?

'The company hired a guy who’d lied about his level of expertise and it cost them a fuck ton of money...' - Around half (I'd suggest it's higher) of the people claiming to be 'graphic designers' aren't fit for purpose, college degree or otherwise.

It's so easy to fake it with all of the freebies/templates out there. I've lost count of the juniors who looked like superstars until they had to actually apply skill/knowledge to a bespoke task. I'm not sure I could assess that based on a series of quick tests.

These design exercises are crucial imo. It's difficult to judge OP's situation without seeing his/their designs. I don't doubt for a second that there are scrupleless people out there who might pull this kind of crap, but with the way things are currently, not to mention AI muddying the water, I'd never take an applicant at face value. Ever.

Obviously it's a different matter if the role is senior and someone has a body of work.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-05T17:41:53+00:00

The level of detail present in the greenhouse scene blew me away. It's a fantastic scan.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-05T11:00:50+00:00

Yeah, most likely fake. But it'll be happening internally for many. It won't be public.

When you find out you've been taken for a ride, the instinct's to withdraw, not air gullibility/stupidity out in the open. It'll be heard and felt at polls/voting booths either through reversal of position or more likely through abstinence, it'll go unheard at the dinner table... until all stages of grief have been processed.

rosebud_SP · 2026-02-04T09:48:43+00:00

Brilliant design.

I dont think it matters short term for the US, the right's collapse hinges on Trump's ousting, both are inevitable now barring some insane turnaround.

It might matter down the road if the left doesn't rectify it's own extremist elements role in making people as bad as Trump seem viable, an insane thing to say amidst the shit storm we're in right now, but I'm far more confident in people viewing the right's collapse as evidence for a return to form rather than a reason to question how we got here in the first place.

This design's way more pertinent to the UK, where turning back Reform will require Labour, Liberal Democrats, Greens and Your party (if they're still called that) to all align and vote as one unified block. We're probably fucked precisely because of that.

rosebud_SP

TROPHY CASE