Gamestage

Description
Gamestage is a calculated value which represents your progression and survival skill. You can see your own Gamestage, as well as the Gamestages of other players, on the Players information screen. Gamestage 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 Gamestage 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 Gamestage in the party is multiplied by startingWeight (gamestages.xml; default in A19 is 1.0)
 * 2) The next highest Gamestage is multiplied by parameter diminishingReturns (gamestages.xml; default in A19 is 0.5) and added to the party total
 * 3) The next highest Gamestage 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: Gamestage 100

Player 2: Gamestage 80

Player 3: Gamestage 60

Party Gamestage = (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 Gamestage 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 Gamestage
Loot Gamestage is the effective Gamestage used when you open a container (and the game checks against any Gamestage-controlled loot tables). In single-player it is simply your Gamestage as modified by perks and apparel (e.g. the Lucky Looter perk). In a party, the effective Loot Gamestage for all party members is the highest Gamestage in the party (see loot.xml); it does not use the Party Gamestage calculation shown above. (Using the players from the example above, the party's Loot Gamestage would be 100.) 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.