theszerdi

Will Namalsk be updated for the latest DayZ (1.7.7) release?

Fixed the Tara bridge and ocean spawn glitches on the Namalsk server.

Bump.

I've been thinking long and hard about the DayZ endgame and come to the conclusion that it sucks. For the average casual gamer there IS NO ENDGAME. You learn to play, you explore, build a camp, kill a bunch of infected/players, get bored and quit DayZ. Now this isn't to say that there CAN'T be an endgame. In fact many private servers create one through player run events and factions. This is great, if you're the hardcore type that writes their own D&D campaigns this works for you. If you don't mind a great game with so much promise like DayZ fading into obscurity and kept alive only by a few fanatics this is fine. (Anyone remember Freelancer?) Right now DayZ's popularity continues because of it's ability to be modded. If the standalone is not moddable I'm afraid it will fade within months. Personally I prefer that DayZ stay popular and vigorous by appealing to the more casual gamer. I also prefer that it do this without losing the promise and possibility. (You know what happens when a game goes too casual . . . Not that I'll mention any hugely popular MMO's here.) So, to provide the possibility without losing the hardcore survival immersion I have a proposal. A set of, let's call them core events, that give casual gamers an objective. Core events that provide something to do beyond amassing loot and killing infected, but not something that breaks the immersion and open endedness loved by the hardcore players. I help run a private Namalsk server with mission events similar to Wasteland's. This works fine for us, but we're more of a post-apocalypse squad warfare type of server and I think that strays too far from the original DayZ goal. Instead of broadcasting messages and placing map markers as the missions do on my server I was thinking that small enclaves could be located throughout the map to provide information. Say a fortified church in Chernogorsk with an NPC priest and a few acolytes. Talking to the priest he could tell you of a bandit camp somewhere to the northeast, that there is a heavy concentration of infected in Zelenogorsk, or that a survivor trade convoy had passed through recently. Similarly a small gang could be holed up in a junkyard that provides the same information to players of a less friendly persuasion. These types of core events not only provide objectives for casual gamers, but can be built off of by more devoted players. A survivor group could escort the convoy to make sure they don't have to wait a week for it to respawn. Bandits could massacre the priests to deny the survivors intel. These events also provide an opportunity for like-minded players to meet and (possibly) cooperate. Even with 50 players online you could wander Chernarus for hours without seeing anyone. Events like this provide an optional focal point for those interested. I've heard Dean objects to NPC's beyond the infected, but there just aren't enough dedicated players to provide the organization and support structure that a continuing world needs. Adding core events like those I've mentioned would allow casual and hardcore fans alike to enjoy more objective oriented play without losing the immersion. I hope that the standalone includes something like this. It gives the casuals an endgame and provides a jumping off point for the hardcore players to develop even more on their own. P.S. Some of you will surely ask "Why don't you write the scripts for this?". Several reasons: I'm too inexperienced to code stuff that complex. (Getting the mission system on our Namalsk server written was hard enough for me.) Also, this would probably require modification of the DayZ code itself and I don't even want to get into that. Finally, I'd like to see it run worth a damn. With all the custom scripts on our Namalsk server we have a 35 person pop cap and it still lags. Optimize the standalone! P.P.S. Many people suggest adding more stuff, but most of it is just that. Stuff. Junk that collects in your camp. I'm talking about giving additional options to play style.

Just realized I never mentioned that the server has been dropped to 3 hour restarts and the NPC's outside of missions have been dropped to custom military installations only in the initial start-up and a few strategic locations one hour into play.

That sounds great in theory. Are you in college? You must have huge amounts of free time to be so willing to spend others. Playing for hours and hours without ever seeing anyone else sucks. There needs to be something to motivate people to go places and there needs to be a system to distribute information about those places. I proposed a system to do that. I'm open to better suggestions. Let's hear yours. Edit to add: My suggested system was a way to get players to interact more easily with a minimum amount of game scripted interference. A system to promote interaction without spending tons of time setting up community events. Something that will appeal to people who don't have oodles of free time (hardcore players).

Alright, perhaps I worded that poorly. Rather than nothing to do, there is little challenge once you've mastered the basics of play. Even most player squads are easy enough to track and kill. Surviving and building a gigantic camp full of loot gets boring after a few weeks. Been there, done that. Hunt players and their camps? Did that for a few weeks too. Now I mostly play on my server for the squad warfare and npc missions. Because it's more challenging. Player run events are fun and challenging, but I'm not willing to invest that kind of time usually. An erratic work schedule doesn't help either. :P

If there's nobody to play with your story will be pretty boring. Or repetitive if you only have the same few. Also, more popular is better when you're trying to sell something.

For those who think DayZ will stay popular without the mods/npc's just take a look at the top 500 or 1000 servers on Gametracker. Not a lot of Vanilla DayZ in there. I'm all for purely player driven stories, but most of us just don't have time even if we do have the interest.

Chaingunfighter and Chabowski, you both make compelling arguments. If the standalone is moddable I agree that Vanilla DayZ should remain NPC free and be purely player-driven. If admins don't have the power to mod or at least some event tools I think the game will be a lot less interesting. I know I certainly wouldn't waste hours collecting vehicles/loot for an event. I have a job, yardwork, and at least a little social life. Without some admin tools I just don't have time to help drive events on a server.

The NPC is not marking your map and telling you to kill the bandits for a reward. Just give a general area/direction that NPC bandits are in so that if you want to you can try to find them or avoid them. There's nothing to DO once you learn how to play. I'm a bandit because that's all that is left. Kill people for fun. This provides an OPTION that you can choose or avoid.

I'm not suggesting the NPC's give quests or anything like that. I'm just suggesting some variety that allows people to play without joining a community and dedicating a lot of time to player events. The current setup leaves a lot to be desired for solo players and even small groups.

So I've heard. I suspect that if he sticks to that and the standalone is not moddable then it will only be hardcore fans playing it 6 months after release.

These guys enjoyed the server:

Server population cap dropped to 35 to reduce lag issues.

Server appears to be back up.

Server down due to host being DDoS'd. Please donate ( http://tinyurl.com/pw9yjtd ) and help us buy our own dedicated server box!

DayZ server was down for ~24 hours due to DDoS attack on our host. Sorry for the inconvenience. Edit to add: Don't forget to check https://twitter.com/QuixoticFolly for server news!

Shameless bump.

Tweaked some stuff in the missions. M107 no longer spawns on server. AS50 spawns only at minor missions. Other sniper rifles only spawn at missions and on NPC's.

We're now also hosting an Epoch server! Missions haven't been implemented on it yet, but most of our other improvements are like custom debug, auto-refuel, tent healing, and biplanes with guns. IP: 24.113.197.159:2302

BERCon and Gotcha Antihacks stay connected with no problems. Tried running DaRT as administrator, no difference. Our server is hosted by DayZ.st if that makes a difference.

New minor mission system breakdown: Wrecked chopper/truck/humvee: Similar to standard DayZ crashed heli with a few AI NPC's. Hillbilly's: Spawns a cabin with good loot and a few AI NPC's. Sniper Team: Spawns 2 snipers with backpacks full of goodies. Axe Murderer: Spawns psychotically tough NPC with backpack full of goodies. Landing Party: Spawns PBX with AI NPC's who drive to shore and set up a tent full of goodies. Minor missions spawn every 5 to 10 minutes after completion of the last minor mission or server restart. They are marked on map by a small red grid marker. You cannot see the marker if you are not alive and in-game when it spawns. ***THIS SYSTEM STILL IN TESTING. NOT FULLY WORKING.*** FULLY OPERATIONAL!

No longer connecting multiple times, but it still drops connection and reconnects every minute or two. Ban list still won't load. Number of admins doesn't load. Nothing loads if "Request players/bans on connect" is checked. [2013-04-24 | 13:46:34] Player request timed out! (Server didn't respond) [2013-04-24 | 13:46:44] Connected! [2013-04-24 | 13:46:44] RCon admin #1 (*.*.72.183:58967) logged in [2013-04-24 | 13:48:03] Player request timed out! (Server didn't respond) [2013-04-24 | 13:48:13] Connected! [2013-04-24 | 13:48:13] RCon admin #1 (*.*.72.183:54152) logged in Haven't had a ban list load since like 0.7 lol

NEW FEATURES: Biplane's & LittleBirds now have M240 mounted facing forward and controlled by pilot's trigger. Ability to remove undamaged parts from vehicles. Ability to sleep in tent to regain full blood. (WARNING: You are VERY vulnerable while sleeping!)