Dalfryth

"why do people want to add stuff thats not wanted"... nice way to contradict yourself in the same sentence :P as a response to the thread in general... I like the concept of a kind of skill system... i have referred previously to the system in UO where you gained skills based on how much you did them BUT you could never max out all skills... adds a further depth to the game and means that groups have the benefit because members of the group can specialise (one guy does medical based skills... another does cooking based etc) but the skills learned MUST be lost on death... imagine the horror of a bandit attack killing the "medic" of the team and the remainder forced to "make do" until the player either works his skill up over time or they find a different "medic" I cant say enough though that the benefits of improved skills must never be so high as to create an excessive difference... I'm saying (for example) that the "hunting" skill as it gets higher gives a (small) chance for getting extra meat when butchering a carcass... the "Medic" skill allows ether marginally faster bandage use OR marginally improved healing. With this I also want to point out that if a "skill" is not used over a period of time then it starts to degrade... not talking all skill points lost if you dont butcher a sheep in an hour of gameplay but over a period of (in game) time you start to "forget" what you have learned.

not talking about "classes" per se... more a complete list of skills that everyone has access to and all start at 0... by carrying out a task your skill gradually increases... you have a limit to your number of skill points but can "lock in" skills as they get to your desired level. it gives the option of becoming specialised or being a jack-of-all trades... each skill adds a (minor) bonus to tasks depending on skill level (say every 10%) best description for something like i mean (what i based it off) is at Http://wiki.uosecond...Category:Skills obviously can have fewer skills so lower skill cap but the principal would be the same (also no skill trainers)

this is basically the idea behind my response earlier in the post... i'll stick a possible list of skills up in the near future Dalf

I like some of these ideas... i'll expand slightly on what i thought on reading it: - the "armour" zombies could basically be the military personnel (they would be wearing helmets, body armour etc so should be harder to kill)... headshot with small calibre weapons would take 2 (or more) rounds. - not sure about the loot zombie the way you have described it... however you could includde something similar but, for example, have a zombie that is walking around with a small backpack on... these zombies could be a person that on infection had been heading back from the shops or whatever so could be carrying some more tins of food, possibly painkillers... would be slightly better loot but not so much as to be game breaking. - love the idea of screamer zombies... not sure how it would work (with regards to various countries censorship laws) but would be a good way to include child/female zombie models that (as you said) would screech on locating a player... would seriously add to the tension if, on your way back out of a looting run you spot a "screamer" and find yourself having to either (A) take cover and wait it out or ( B) find a different route or risk having every zombie for a fair distance closing down on your location. just my thoughts on this... nice idea though :) *EDIT* after reading a bit more (more people discussing classes)... how about something similar to how UO was (going back a *few* years here)... you have a set maximum number of skill points and a series of skills... you can never have all skills maxed out and to improve skills you have to repeatedly do said action... i'll try to do a DayZ based example... - you have (for example) 500 skill points maximum there are: -survival based skills (hunting/tracking, foraging (if they include foraged foods) etc etc.) -combat based skills (pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifle etc etc) -utility skills (mechanic, medic etc) -other skills (running, stealth etc). now... you have to decide which way you want your character to be... obviously you cant take all the skills to maximum level but you can choose to become specialised at a few or a "jack of all trades"... would have to include benefits for higher skill levels in the various skills e.g. for every 10% skill level you get: - improved scoped stability for the sniper rifle skill - improved running speed for the running skill - improved accuracy with pistols etc etc this would mean people that have survived a long time would become highly skilled people (as you would become if you had to spend every day surviving) as you get each skill to the level you want you could be able to "lock" it so as to not have it drop on improving some other skills... only downside to this i can think of at the minute is that you would probably find a lot of people running around the wilderness to improve their running skill (however with the food/drink requirement they would have to spend a chunk more time going into towns to get food/drink) one of the things i can see as being a pro to this idea is that if someone has (again... for example) the assault rifle skill and they find a sniper rifle, they would have a tougher choice on whether to upgrade or not... should also make it a tougher choice on whether or not to shoot another player because you cant just swap and change weapons without having to (potentially) change some skills.

i would suggest better if you can't swap servers but have say 3 different servers at 8 hour differences (GMT -8, GMT & GMT+8) so that everyone can choose a server that suits their timezine (to a degree at least) but you cant just keep hopping around to stay in daytime... nighttime is an important part of the immersion of the game. (imho) edit: possibly 4 servers... GMT, a central US timezone, an Eastern european timezone and something to catch Japan/Australia

if you read the post under the pictures it was stated that the dirt etc was being added in at a later stage... they were just after the basis for starters. (sure i read that somewhere)

currently working on something kinda similar to this... already posted a progress image in http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/38742-suggestions-for-the-dayz-standalone-thinking-outside-of-the-limitations-of-an-arma-2-mod/ will post a more up to date one in its own thread in the (hopefully not too distant) future. some nice work though... hard to get a good, intuitive interface. Dalf

main problem with this is that different monitors require different gamma settings to have the same levels displayed on screen... possibly have a settings/setup screen that you set the gamma on before you log in... (gray boxes etc) and once its set it locks to a set margin that would mean you can tweak it in game but not set it to max at night and normal in the day just my 2 pence :P

Well... After a day or 2 tinkering with other peoples images/ideas I have finished what I think is a nice balance for the GUI and Inventory screen... I'll try to point out what I have changed from other peoples ideas/images and talk you around the UI also... apologies/thanks to: - Ruarz - Inde as this is more their work than my own... I just added my own take on the idea (and some more of other peoples ideas) (if my using your images bothers you let me know and i'll take the post down) 01) Consolidated most(all) HUD elements to the bottom corner - easier if you only have 1 place to look for those details. 02) Shown the size of items on the ground so you can judge if you have the spare space or what you would need to drop in order to carry the new item. 03) Left the HUD in a visible location when in the inventory, means that if moving items around inventory makes noise is implemented you can keep an eye on that. 04) The waist slot can have several options, Bumbag(fannypack), PLCE (webbing) etc... slots beneath are unlocked depending on the size/quality of equipment. 05) You can see the various "locked" pockets/pouches etc by the darkened out slots (bottom PLCE pouch, lower trouser pockets etc) 06) The bottom "active" PLCE pouch is a special pouch (medical) that conveys a bonus to bandaging speed, others would be available and it creates skills that can be changed as found/required. this would promote team play if you are limited to fewer pouches than available. 07) Added a second neck slot, this could be used for a scarf of some description to aid temperature or some kind of aid to camoflage (face mask etc) 08) Not on this image but was going to include some kind of indicator on the canteen to fill level. probably a blue teardrop shape. could be used to facilitate canteen not being emptied with a single drink. 09) The backpack button at the top of the slots allows you to have backpack open or closed and assists in being able to move things around your inventory easily (as soon as you have a backpack at least) 10) I'm aware a lot of people dont like the "inventory tetris" thing but it does (to a certain degree) add to the realism without things getting silly... I personally would also include a means of roatating items during placement (such as right clicking while an item is being held) 11) Havent ignored the combining items/crafting element that was included in Ruarz's image... just think it would be more appropriate that you could only do it at some kind of table/workbench which would open up a different aspect of the UI (probably where the "on ground" area is. Hope you like what i have done... looking forward to standalone and being able to see which direction it goes.

okay... loving this post already... (second day of trawling through the responses and only @ page 12)... had my beans v early on... nice to see the recognition it got from rocket :) if you dont mind i'd like to steal that GUI image to have a bit of a play with it to see if i can make it seem a tad less cluttered/confusing (buttons everywhere etc... do like it but think with some minor refinement it would be very natural to use and easy to get your head around). OP please PM me if you would like to discuss what I mean/my plans with what I look at as YOUR idea. here is a link to my response to something that caught my eye wrt class system... post was http://dayzmod.com/f......s-teamwork/ if anyone wants to check it out. i'll warn in advance its a bit of a wall of text (hence the button) the TLDR version is customisable toolbelt "pouches" that have specific benefits... eg medic pouch that (as i added to someone elses suggestion) would incur a bonus to bandaging time for bandages used from said pouch...general pouches for carrying extra kit but no bonuses etc etc. limit the number of pouches you can equip and it promotes team play but dont limit it to the detriment of solo players (can manage okay with certain pouches but struggle on benefits) i think this would be easy enough to implement in the inventory GUI in the example... e.g. red cross background on your medic pouch in the GUI etc. as an addition... i think the zombie horde spawn should be restricted to major population centers (cities) but the possibility of small groups (or solo) in the woods a more-than-viable option (camping trip gone v wrong etc) thanks for reading :) <edit> just had another idea while continuing to read... like the idea of an eve style single server big world concept... to facilitate this (leaving the option for expansions etc) you could have a barricaded road leading off the side of the map that has plenty of zombies one side and some kind of military presence on the off map side... if you silly enough to approach the barrier you get a warning from the military before being shot (as you get "too close"... as far as they're concerned you are probably infected)... when the map/game gets expanded you can include the (now destroyed) barricade in the map with several corpses around... as if the whole world is gradually being overrun. <edit> as I am in no way a graphic designer I have also borrowed the HUD image that someone added... slightly modified that too (moved some bits around)... again... hope you dont mind... it just helps put the inventory thing into context (and I like a lot of what you did)

please excuse the wall of text... a lot of comments etc being consolodated and hopefully i can make more people think this is a v good idea some brilliant ideas there... a touch of expansion would imo make this an extremely valid idea... (possibly a nightmare to code but i'll say it anyways) would just like to add before you misunderstand where i'm coming from... I do have a certain degree of military experience at present you strat with 32 slots of some description plus your backpack and weapon slots... i believe reducing this would make initial play more challenging without making it too difficult (bear with me on this) starting without the backpack isn't too much of an unbelievable option... i would however make smaller backpacks a more abundant drop (i think most of us would agree to having at least 1 small backpack somewhere in their house) 1) with the knife pack (as suggested in the OP)... I think it is a fair argument that when you find the knife, it would fit on your belt without taking a "pack slot" and also includes a bonus slot for matches/firestarter (as described earlier in the post) 2)the map should have its own slot (similar to the optics slot)... at the end of the day its a piece of paper... would take up minimal space 3)the watch would have its own slot (on your wrist)... i know this wasn't mentioned but added it anyway :) 4)possibility of 2 differenet compasses... one that takes a slot and one that could go around your neck (think military compass vs silva... could have some kind of benefit to the one that takes a slot) 5)with the medical pack... you could have it inclue a bonus to healing ability... would have f/e 3 slots that you could put anything in (its a pouch at the end of the day)... would mean it still increases your space but not as much as a general pack. 6)you could also include an item (such as a PLCE belt) which would increase your pouch capacity by 1 (rare drop but nice for the lone wolves) 7)an option of finding a V V rare MOLLE equivalent of all backpacks that would further increase your pouch capacity by 1 (google it if you dont know what i mean) 8)hatchet carrier could also be a free slot (allowing survival players still free to have a "class" selection) possibly having 2 diffrent sizes of hatchet/axe... small one that takes free slot but no option as weapon (a hatchet can be anything from 8" to 24") and a larger one that can be used as a weapon but takes a slot 9)a magazine pouch (at least the ones i have on my webbing have 2 pouches holding 3 rifle magazines each... you could probably fit a couple of tins of beans in each pouch again... non specific capacity but could have improved reload speed with a magazine pouch 10)inclusion of a holster is a nice idea... opens up the option of carrying multiple sidearms (not unrealistic)... save your SD ammo for when stealth is important and your .45 for emergencies 11)the quiver is also a very nice idea... definately should only hold bolts/arrows though... a typical quiver is normally either a narrow tube or thin pouch shape and would be inplausable for holding anything that isn't long and thin (like an arrow) also... adding the option of a certain degree of stacking (e.g. bandages) and charges (e.g. painkillers/antibiotics) means that although you have reduced inventory capacity you have also reduced (to a degree) the required capacity to be able to survive on your own think I pretty much covered all the things i thought of while reading... will keep thinking about this :) sorry about the wall of text

some nice ideas... good post to look at that expands/opens up options is titled "if you are good at something... professions&teamwork" (would link if i knew how :P) will put my 2 cents in there :)

for starters I only heard about this earlier today and havent even finished downloading ARMA2... I have only watched a few youtube vids and think i have come up with a relevant and possibly workable idea. quoted both of these because the idea I have is affected by both comments... how about an option of loose rounds... bear with me.. i'll get there :P individual magazines for weapons is reasonable as the magazine housing on, 9mm pistol A is different to that of 9mm pistol B... both take 9mm rounds but differently shaped magazines. if you had an option of empty magazines being a carryable item and loose rounds (say 50 take up one inventory slot, depending on colibre)... then in a means similar to setting up a tent you can spend an amount of time putting said loose rounds into or out of magazines. what you may end up with in this situation is a backpack with empty magazines and loose rounds and when you get to a (reasonably) safe location you spend a bit of time consolidating your rounds into fewer, more full, magazines. also gives an option of having boxed ammunition as a lootable item and even the possibility of speedloaders (to reduce the amount of time to load a magazine) like I said, I havent played the game yet and unsure as to how relevant this may be. looking forwarde to playing though.