entspeak

Looks to me like the OP is not running with shadows on. That makes a huge difference for me on my crappy lappy in terms of video performance. I'm sure that explains some of the high FPS. If I turn shadows on, the game becomes unplayable; if I leave them off, it's pretty snappy... though not nearly as pretty, to be sure. I've been told that, if you're going to play with shadows on and your graphics card can handle it, to keep shadows on high or above... this shifts the shadows off of the cpu and onto the graphics card. As others have said, viewing distance is set to a max of 1600 in DayZ, though some servers bring in more fog to lower that. I think you get better results when the other details are set to High or Very High because they render out smoother into the distance.

As other's have stated, the SA will go back to DayZ's roots. I agree that private hives (believed at first to be the savior of the game because of the ability to whitelist) have become one of the big failures. The problem is that, rather than playing the game as is or coming up with their own variant, they choose to customize the game and still call it DayZ. They tend to cater to those who don't like the survival aspect of it and, so, you have custom loadouts... or worse, custom loadouts if you give the admin money. Hopefully, the SA will be able to severely limit hacking and scripting by design... thus making private hives unnecessary. My hope is that, should private hives be added, that the admins will not have the ability to customize loadouts. If you want to rent a server and play DayZ, you should rent a server and play DayZ... not your own interpretation of DayZ-lite. Leave game-altering customization to modders when that becomes possible with the SA. Currently, the private hives are spoiling players (and, in some instances, milking them for cash with the promise of easier gameplay). Custom loadouts confuse players as to what DayZ actually is. I've seen this first hand playing a DayZ variant where, because some admins decided to add back in a particular over-powered weapon, players believed that weapon was actually a part of the variant game when it wasn't and got mad when the creators went so far as to make that weapon (and all other weapons not included in the variant of the mod) weigh thousands of pounds so that you couldn't even move if you picked one up.

This is awesome... but do you lose the zed's at the heli crashes? I'd make the explosion a little less pronounced in the air, so that it looks more probable that some crew would've survived as infected. Maybe smoke, spin and explode on impact. I agree about the loot spreading out more... keep some guns on the bodies and add some small weapons crates that are strewn about randomly in a particular radius around the crash site. And, I think it would be best not to have any notification that a heli has crashed apart from the sound and visuals. Also, I couldn't tell from the video... is the heli the same one that is used for the heli crashes?

The OP didn't even mention "noob" kill vs. non-"noob" kill... he talked about unskilled vs. skilled bandits. I certainly agree that you shouldn't complain about being shot at the NW or NEAF's in the situation he described. But, shooting fresh spawns near spawn points is frowned upon in virtually every online FPS game out there. That doesn't change here, why should it?Apart from that situation - as much as I, personally, don't like the KoS mentality, it's part of the game; it will never go away; and players should learn to play smarter and adapt to it. Coincidentally, I just got done watching and he owns pretty much everyone he comes across. His take on KoS banditing: it's too easy... it takes less skill. And, it's not like he's an unskilled player.

That's been the general consensus. There's no way to stop this form of cheating, people will do continue to do it... I just think people should call a spade a spade.

Direct chat is limited to 40m, not 80m and, is pretty realistic as a game mechanic. Vehicle chat already requires you to be either inside or close to the vehicle... which is pretty realistic as a game mechanic. I agree about not using side or global chat to discuss the game. And I'm not against using teamspeak to talk to friends in game... the problem arises when you use teamspeak as part of the game. A common occurrence is that a teammate dies and gives away the position of his killer to his teammates over teamspeak. Nobody is going to seriously argue that's not ghosting; that's not cheating, are they? So, yeah, I'll change my mind in that account. Using TS that way is cheating. Just because you CAN do it, doesn't mean you SHOULD do it. So, yeah, use TS to chat with friends during the game, but don't use it to your advantage as part of the game. That, unfortunately, requires a level of discipline most are unwilling to commit to. So, nothing can be done. People will continue ro do this; they just shouldn't piss and call it champagne. Call it what it is... using TS in that way is cheating.

If I say no, do you promise not to bring up anymore ambiguous situations and provide as little information about the other player and ask if they are KoS noob kills? Seems to me one would know when one is doing a KoS noob kill and when is not... it's common sense. In my opinion, if you kill someone near a spawn point, that is a KoS noob kill, douchey and cheap... it's spawn camping which is frowned upon in pretty much every online FPS out there.

This is fantastic! The only issue I see is that clouds are a big way of determining direction in game if you don't have a compass or map. If the wind changes direction and that impacts the direction of the clouds, will there be some other clear way of determining direction? Also, will wind impact vehicles... particularly air vehicles? I love the idea of changing the sound of guns indoors and the transition is seamless - awesome! Is the size of the report outside diminished by the walls absorbing the sound inside? It sounded to me like it wasn't, but I can't say that with certainty.

3rd party voice chat has been a part of online gaming for so long, it's just become accepted. I agree that in a game like DayZ which is about limits on resources, the ability to freely communicate with your friends on the other side of the map goes against the spirit of the game, but what can you do? As has been mentioned, you can't force people to stop using it. It's cool to watch the videos of people using radios to communicate in Arma 2 (most likely using ACRE)... watching a heli pilot express concern that he's accidentally fired on a friendly squad because he's getting no response from them on a radio. But that's dedication to a particular experience... dedication to participating in the simulation. You lose that tension when you don't limit yourself to direct comm and vehicle comm in DayZ. Is your buddy dead? Or is he just out of ear shot. If dead where was he killed who killed them and from where? But, for most, that level of experience is not something people who use TS are interested in from the game, they just want to be able to easily communicate and coordinate with their friends and... again, what are you gonna do? So, cheat is too strong a word - it's more of an exploit, if anything... but it certainly goes against what DayZ seems to be about.

As someone who isn't a bandit and tends to play lone wolf style, there were some things I learned very early on. Going to an airfield at night if I'm not properly geared up is extremely dangerous - I usually avoid it. I also don't go into the major towns unless it is absolutely necessary. These are things that, especially if you are playing this as a zombie survival game, you have to accept. I go to those places when the server population is low enough that the chances of someone being in those spots is reduced - in the rp mindset, when most people are "asleep." Even then, unless you're the only one on the server, there is a risk. Understand the risks, you take your chances and accept the consequences. I have no beef with people who camp the airfields looking to snipe players and nab their loot... it's smart because you're making the player do all the work for you and you kill them and take their stuff. I've been killed by a sniper at the NWAF at night... I didn't have NVG's, but I had a NV FAL. He picked the right moment and I just hadn't properly cleared the place. I could only be mad at myself. You must always be on your guard in this game. The true "non-bandits" are the douchebags who simply snipe new, unarmed players along the coast. They don't go loot the bodies because there is no loot to be had. For them, it's not about playing DayZ, they could be playing any shooter and simply kill someone who isn't armed. To me, that is not a bandit, because there is no gain beyond the kill - and it's a cheap shot.

http://support.dayzmod.com/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=24 My advice to new players is to buy your software from BIS or Steam only; don't download any third party software claiming to give you some benefit in DayZ; and don't cheat. These are the ways to avoid being banned or having your key stolen and being banned by the actions of the person who stole your key.

I don't believe this is necessarily what is happening here. It seems there is more history to this than the current issue being discussed here. It's airing dirty laundry. If it turns out that the code is KK's, then I hope he gets proper credit for it. If it's not, then he can feel upset that vanilla DayZ has adopted a feature he came up with first, but that's about it. As he updates his code with vanilla DayZ code, some back flow seems legitimate even if it is simply an idea and not the code. I keep hearing server admins state that they've improved on the DayZ code fixing - things that vanilla DayZ hasn't been able to address. And, I keep wondering why they don't give those fixes to the DayZ community.

This led to one of my best survival stories - an outhouse leg break. I was all geared up, ghillie, coyote pack, nv, rangefinders, CCO-SD, m9SD. I was on a fairly new public server - many of the vehicles were in their default spawn, so I thought I'd head to Skalitsky Island and look for the Huey. A big fishboat was docked off Cap Golova, I stowed my backpack, and CCO-SD in the blue betty van I'd found earlier, hopped in the boat and headed out. I landed on the opposite side of the island from the docks, went up to the house on the hill and found no heli. While there, I thought I'd check for some loot... opened the outhouse door and *snap*. And me with no morphine. So, I crawl down to the buildings by the docks and search the houses for morphine... nada. I wasted all my m9SD ammo trying to take out the zombies that were aggroing on me and crawl away from the rest. I managed to crawl back to the boat, get in and head back to Electro, crawl to a hospital and get morphine. I was really lucky I didn't get sniped and that when I got back to my van, my stuff was still there... I learned to carry morphine with me at all times. Worst way to die... for me has to be slow blood loss without a bandage... because, as always seems to be the case, the one thing you need is the one thing that doesn't spawn.

Thanks so much for this! Really enjoyed the video. A couple of points that stuck out to me: the key to aim and teamwork. I hope they keep the key to aim. If you can toggle lock it up, that'd be great, but I think the default should be lowered (and it should require more energy to keep your gun up.) And, I hope they have adopted Arma 3's ability to have a lowered pistol, as well. What would also be awesome is the ability to walk with nothing in your hands, your rifle slung on your shoulder or in your backpack and your pistol stowed as well. You could really freak out some sod aiming badly with a pistol who thinks you're unarmed when you duck around a rock only to lean out and shoot them with an AK you've pulled from your backpack. As far as teamwork goes, I hope they find a good balance between the need for social interaction and the ability to play the game alone. I agree with the notion that it should be much more difficult for a lone wolf play style to succeed as compared to playing as part of a group, but it shouldn't be futile. So, I'm excited to see what challenges it presents. As regards the reduction/prevention of KOS - given the mentality that exists, it seems the only way to achieve that is to make the actual ability to kill harder. Because when you listen to things like streamers on YouTube giving long, rambling justifications why they shoot unarmed players or reading, as I did yesterday in a chat room, a statement that killing new spawns is eliminating 'the threat at the source,' you can see that those who KOS will always find a rationalization for doing so. Some mod variants have approached this issue by making it harder to KOS... I mean, you can shoot on sight, but, unless you're really good with iron sights, the odds of getting a kill are much lower. Obviously, based on what was stated at PAX, it will be harder to KOS in the alpha at the start due to the weapon limitations... my question to Rocket would be, how will the Standalone deal with this issue as development progresses? And will there be a way to identify bandits? In the current system, with ghillies and other skins rendering bandit identificaiton virtually impossible and this is also currently used as a justification for KOS. How will Standalone address bandit identification, if it will at all?

^^ le douche.

I agree... a controller is best used for flying and driving only... the analog controls are great for it. Trying to use a controller for walking and running is jerky at best... not nearly as smooth between movements as with a keyboard. Using my controller to run, I found myself stopping in between zig and zag... which could mean death if you're trying to keep from being shot. This is my PS3 controller setup for DayZ. Vehicle (controller, mouse combo) I hold the controller with my left hand and use the mouse for free look, zoom, horn, etc...: Left stick: up - fast forward, down - reverse, left and right - left and right. With the analog stick, you have fine control over speed from inching along to speeding. L1 - fast forward (compensates for the way the left stick makes you slow down when making a hard turn) Dpad Left - Toggle view Dpad Right - Toggle free look Select - Get out Start - EjectA controller is particularly great with motorcycles and bikes. Heli: Left Stick: up - nose down, down - nose up, left and right - bank left and right. Right Stick: analog look L1 - increase thrust R1 - decrease thrust L2 - left pedal - the analog triggers allow for fine rudder control R2 - right pedal Square - Auto-hover on Circle - Auto-hover off The Dpad, select and start are configured as above.I'm not great with planes yet, so... I don't know the best setup... probably add flaps and gear to a button. I had to tweak the sensitivity settings in MotionJoy and in game to find a nice setup that didn't send me careening off the road if I wanted to go around a bend.

If it's on top of a loot pile with loot underneath it, you won't be able to pick it up until you remove the loot underneath it. Aim at the pack and choose 'Gear' to see if there's loot underneath it. If it's on a dead body, you'll have to go that body's gear to get it.

I use a ps3 controller for flying and the controller plus a mouse for driving (mouse used for free look). I like the analog controls - especially for low altitude flying. I'd recommend using a mouse and keyboard for walking/running around, it's much less jerky and you'll have an easier time aiming. I've not had the issue you're having, though.

Oh, and just to add... right click on the flashlight in inventory to remove it from your toolbelt and press L to light it. F to switch to chemlights and primary mouse to through... then you can scroll on them and choose to pick them up or extinguish them. For fire, you'll need a pile of wood... ;)

Cool. I'm looking forward to the public release. It's looks like a really great take on DayZ.

Did you give him the real server files? Because the version he's been running today doesn't work the same as the one I've been spending my time watching on the streams and on youtube. NPC's don't work right... one wholesaler/trader NPC refused to trade due to low humanity even though humanity was at +2500 - so no ability to purchase vehicles or a safe... and the server owner had no clue what humanity would be high enough to get the NPC to trade, the food/clothing NPC doesn't work at all - so no buying or selling anything there either. You can buy and sell guns and ammo... that's it. I got the impression from videos I've seen that there are instances where metal bars spawn - not so on this server, so you'll have to smelt everything. Many BE kicks occurring, that he is fixing on the fly... he's playing catch up. I suppose if the mod creator doesn't mind an inferior version of his mod being out there, who am I to argue. But, despite the fact that the mod creator has given his okay, if he isn't using the official server files, I think folks should know this isn't the same version as what you see being played on the test servers... it's a pale shadow.

Installed the mod per the instructions on the DayZ Epoch site last night. Have the latest beta. But, when I try to join your server, I get a "Bad version, server rejected connection" error.

Since this was a discussion about using the crossbow in DayZ, the notion of the "ethical shot" goes out the window. However, more to the point - even the store to which you link, while mainly calling them "bolts" refers to them also as "arrows". And, as I said, people still make bolts out of wood - even for compound crossbows; so, we can dispense with the argument about bolts never being made of wood. In DayZ, I just don't see how the crossbow is OP enough to warrant a 20% breakage - considering it is still complicated to retrieve a bolt, they still have a very good chance of being absorbed and if you miss, there's a very high chance the bolt is gone. A wooden bolt capable of being fired from a compound crossbow wouldn't break upon hitting a person, but it would break if you missed and it hit something else - a wall, a rock... whatever and considering that missed bolts disappear 9 out of 10 times, there doesn't seem to be a need for breakage. My opinion is that if the absorption issue were fixed, maybe a small chance of breakage could occur when firing a bolt - having it break or split when it's fired... meaning it wouldn't hit the target.

Here's a question I have after watching a bit of the video again: It's mentioned that the wrecked vehicles will have doors and boots that open and close... Will they be able to provide cover - meaning can I open a door to provide extra cover from enemy fire? And will the regular vehicles also have opening and closing doors that could be used the same way?

Sure, but let them get to the game part first. If one pays attention to the devblogs, there isn't a playable game yet.It's easy for people to say they'll be fine with a buggy alpha that is lacking some core features, but look at the forums for the mod and you'll see the truth of it - and all that bitching is for a free mod. If it's released too soon, the comments will likely change from the 'it's cool if it's a buggy alpha, just give it to us' to 'I know this is an alpha, but x feature is bugged, FIX IT YESTERDAY!!' and 'I paid x for this?!' Believe me, I'm chomping at the bit to play this game, too. But, I'd much rather wait and have them fix/refine/improve some of the things that plague the mod before release than have to deal with those things in the SA. I for one, have downloaded the TKOH demo and am checking out how that engine runs on my computer (I know it won't be exactly the same, but I'm hoping it might give me some idea of cpu strain... besides, maybe it'll give me a leg up on flying.) :)