CitizenIosef`

Our server is also a Taviana server. While it does not have 50-100 helicopters, it certainly feels like it - finding wings is rarely described as difficult. We currently have 359 vehicles total in database, and this is actually very low compared to what it usually is(must have been some intense combat lately). We have custom weapons introduced via vehicle inventory, but this mechanic will soon be changed to wrecks and care packages(which are currently more or less ignored due to high probability of civilian loot). We also have armed vehicles such as the UAZ with DShKM. This vehicle specifically provides a very hostile environment for heli pilots; heli pilots have noted that their flying skills have never been so challenged in DayZ. While not specifically on your list of requirements, we're also very transparent in our moderation of the server. http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/111675-the-shack-a-different-kind-of-taviana-server/ Feel free to check us out.

I love the concept of clan on clan warfare, especially in enhanced gear environments. I can imagine it all being quite mad max. The one suggestion I might float is to have a clan-on-clan fight on a neutral 3rd party server. Many clans have been burned through abuse of admin tools in such situations, and are naturally a bit cagey about the concept. Best, -Citizen

A ban appeal process has been opened. As this is the first ban appeal process which carries any significant weight(and may have far-reaching connotations based on appeal outcome), we will be adhering to the appeals process to the letter. The conclusion of the ban appeal process includes making all relevant transcripts available in the interest of transparency. We have been clear in the past that exploits are considered hacking. However, there seems to be a grossly unfortunate misunderstanding of what an exploit is. An exploit is usage of an unintended game mechanic or bug which results in an advantage that a player would otherwise not have had. Duplication is but one line on a very long list of exploits, and is a bannable offense. Accidental duplication happens - contact administration so that they may remove the duplicated item with no questions asked. Furthermore, I'd like to be clear about The Shacks implemented strategy for hackers: We not only ban individual actors who have been caught hacking, but we also ban all actors who operate in conjunction with said hacking actor. This has worked brilliantly thusfar. Non-accidental and unreported exploits are considered hacking.

Something occurs to me: With this mechanic, it may be more difficult to kamikaze a plane into players and survive. I've seen individuals fly aircraft towards player bases and eject at the last second to ensure the most accuracy in where the plane will land. If chute deployment is another step, that forces people to eject at a higher altitude, perhaps making aircraft crashing a far less effective tactic.

We run a server that has a ton of vehicles, and more ARMA2 style features. I will agree - most gobs-o-vehicles servers just add vehicles for the sake of adding them, and I will also agree that this is a departure from what vanilla DayZ is all about. I will argue that there is room for different types of DayZ experiences, should they be implemented with thought. I will use our server as an example: We are looking to create a scenario where the zeds have only been around for a matter of days. Vanilla DayZ paints a picture of survival weeks or months after all hell has broken loose. This is a ton of fun - I still play it myself, and there's a certain magic to it. But you must admit that personal interactions become colored by the type of kit the actors are carrying. You may hate that individual with all of your soul, but you can go weeks without seeing them - and when you do, you may be ill-equipped to do anything about them. On the flipside of that, the KOS culture of vanilla DayZ makes forming teams difficult. Let's contrast this with our server. Yes, survival is much less of an issue - as you might expect so soon after Z-Day. Vehicles are plentiful and varied. Powerful tools exist to let your creativity go. While you argue that this creates a PVP fest, the opposite has been proven true most of the time. People feel more comfortable setting up large alliances and pooling their resources. Small teams are more comfortable with being friendly with each other. Lone wolves say hello instead of shooting. Of course, these relationships fall apart; the alliances grow internally suspicious, the small teams grow envious of each other, the lone wolves prefer to be alone. The battles we've seen on this server have been epic, to be sure. The days between large battles have been boring for an admin to watch. It's not ARMA2: I've been playing this series for quite awhile, and the difference is tangible. There's more risk, more diplomacy, more relationship building. Vehicle parts become the currency of choice. And it's not easy - I laugh when someone new comes into the server expecting an easy experience and gets brutally beat down. Many times they're not even shot - many times they log in to find their assets missing, their work lost. The setup rewards those that work hard, and punishes those that are lazy. You'll never find that kind of experience in ARMA2, and to call me a cheater for providing that kind of experience for my users is borderline insulting. Good day.

AFAIK, it's not really a script, just a classname you use when entering a vehicle spawn as normal. The classname is: BAF_Offroad_W Have fun remembering to get in on the right side. ;)

And server is back up. Thank you all for your patience.

Gentlemen, the server is down at this time. Tech is currently working on it, and we will keep you appraised of the situation. On another note, I'd like to arrange an in-game sit-down meeting with any players that wish to participate to go over options for upcoming changes and get feedback, as well as share some words on the state of The Shack at this time(aside from being down due to network issues).

Each whitelisted server utilizes it's own method of whitelisting - if one whitelisting mechanic is down, other whitelist servers should still be accessible.

Yeah, that's the tricky part. What we've found helpful is changing playstyle. To be fair, we don't usually have a lot of time to play once we're done with admin tasks, and we play a lot on other servers to get ideas on how to better our own server, but when we do play, we generally play in such a way where we attach ourselves to another group and let them call the shots. Want to find a heli? Tell me where we're going to be looking. Want to find a car? Well, where do YOU think one will be? This has worked out great, and I'd recommend it to any admin.

Whitelisting is pretty cool - basically, to join a server you register with them first. Helps keep randoms and hackers out, and helps admin screen who comes in. We haven't found a need to implement it yet, but are ready to do so if required. Good luck on your search!

Our teamspeak IP is now easier to remember: theshack.teamspeak.net Old IP address still works - the text address just routes to the numerical IP.

I'm pleased to say that the server is back up. It warmed my heart to see a flood of players join moments after the server went hot again, and I want to give a big thank you to all of the regulars for your patience! New vehicles will continue to be deployed today, and many of the vehicles in the image above are still available at that location. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays!

Server is down as of this writing. There seems to be an issue with the Taviana install. Will update when more is known.

First and foremost: Happy Holidays from The Shack! https://dl.dropbox.c...ryChristmas.jpg (Full resolution version at link) So this has been an exciting day for The Shack. We've finally upgraded to Taviana 2.0. Thanks go to the Taviana.com guys, Ayan for the Bliss code, and Ersan at DayZ.st for making deployment possible. Taviana 2.0 looks to be running like a charm so far. We're excited to see what you guys think of it. Some highlights of recent changes below: We've noticed that quite a few of our European players are suffering lag spikes that put them over the 350 ping limit. The ping limit has been raised to compensate - usually the pings are quite reasonable, and we think a player suffering an occasional lag spike shouldn't mean the loss of the helicopter they were flying. Note that we haven't been asked to raise the limit; we noticed an issue and took steps to correct it. If this ends up raising other issues, we'll revisit the change and continue the workflow from there. The vehicles in the image above just got out of the initial testing phase. We will be moving to the secondary testing phase, where small numbers are let into the wild to see how they perform. Usually this is done with a small amount of spawn points, but since these are already on the map... First come first serve to whoever recognizes the location. :) Once we can gather enough feedback, we'll move into deployment. We're particularly excited about the UAZ with DShKM HMG turret. While easily the most powerful ground-based weapon system yet introduced, it is balanced by the very open gunner position. We're hoping that widespread deployment of this system will help break the stranglehold helicopter-using groups have had on the server to date. More on this later. The repair vehicles are of special concern to us, as they threaten to break the scavenging requirement to the vehicle operation game. On the other hand, they provide the only method of repairing certain aircraft. We'll be keeping a close eye on them, and their effect on the server. The grand experiment that was the AH-64D will most likely be coming to a close for the imminent future. We had certain expectations that had to be met in order to retain this aircraft - chiefly being a high turnover rate - and these expectations have not been met. As a consequence, we're more or less moving testing into another phase: AH-64Ds will not respawn any longer, and the handful of existing aircraft will be closely monitored to see how they fair in the new higher-threat environment presented by the enhanced ability for ground forces to effectively engage air threats. Note: If you're one of the few that have managed to obtain and hold onto an Apache, your aircraft will not be taken from you in the night. We're not in the business of taking your hard work away from you, even if it was us that miscalculated the impact on gameplay that these aircraft would bring. For those not familiar with the AH-64D in The Shack, its Hydra rockets and Hellfire missiles are not operational, but the 30mm chain gun certainly is. It appears to be somewhat less survivable than the Mi-17 in the armor department. So far, pilots appeared to have issues dealing with the combination of low visibility, aggressive terrain altitude gradients, and poor high-speed handlings with this airframe. Most AH-64D losses have been to accidents of one type or another. The second most common cause of AH-64D destruction has been at the hands of another AH-64D pilot. Only one pilot has admitted to losing an AH-64D to ground fire. We expect these ratios to change with the inclusion of the HMG-armed UAZ, but by far the most unbalancing feature of the AH-64D is the combination of armament and radar. These two features put together makes for an unbalanced seek-and-destroy vehicle, and we're frankly looking forward to the remaining examples to be lost to attrition. For those that missed the AH-64D boat, there are still a specific number of unclaimed examples in the wild, or you may be able to obtain one through more nefarious means. Moving forward, we're going to be making the far-fetched request to the Tavi.com guys to include a radarless and ammo-restricted attack helicopter of Russian pedigree - perhaps the Mi-24 or KA-52. An air threat greater than the UH-1H and Mi-17 remains a goal of The Shack, as is access to increased capability for ground forces to deal with such aircraft. That's all for now. As always, we invite players of any type and any time zone to join us in the mayhem - currently the most active time bracket is the morning, so we're especially looking for some night guys to beef up numbers there. If you're a heli pilot, you'll find your services in demand here as most of the playerbase is not versed in the operation of aircraft. If you're a friendly, there are plenty of friendlies that the experienced guys can point you towards. If you're a bandit hunter, well, a group of bandits has claimed the entire western island and there are players on here that would love for you to do something about that. If you're a bandit - I'm sure the 'plenty of friendlies' comment got you excited. 'Till next time, -wingnut

Hey Goggalor! Sorry about the downtime - updating took longer than expected, and initial new vehicle testing took a bit longer than expected as well. Server is unlocked and restarting as of this writing. Feel free to drop by! Post detailing changes to follow.

Quick update: This server is currently still running the taviana.com 1.7.4.4 map. We should see a move over to Tavi2.0 soon: Next week at the outside, next few days optimistically. The switch is dependant on Bliss incorporation of the map - we will be running the proper Bliss and not a branch development. We are so excited to see tavi2.0 coming out. The map is fully prepared for testing of new vehicles, and otherwise our admin workload has been pretty light the last few days.

Snip!

What he said. I'll add to that by saying that the defensible solution would be to make sure that your motivations for adding vehicles are sound. If you're adding vehicles so you, as the admin, can play with them and nothing else... well, I'd stay away from that. If you're motivation is to add balanced spawn points and you intend to not utilize them so your server population can enjoy the expanded experience... you're in good shape. On our server, we have a 'we'll try anything' approach to vehicles. We'll test them in editor or in a remote area of the map(and only on each other) to see if the inclusion is warranted, then we'll do a short test run of adding a few spawns as an expanded test. If the vehicle passes these tests, we add more spawns, always making sure that the more powerful vehicles are in spawn locations that make repairing said vehicle a total bitch. Then we do not touch these vehicles. We're admins, not players - the server is there for others gameplay.

Thanks! I've been really impressed with Taviana so far. It's early in development, and there are some somewhat annoying bugs, but so far nothing absolutely game-breaking. Just to be clear, we're running the .com version of Taviana, not the .eu one. Heh, yeah, it can be hard to tell the difference sometimes. In fact, it's kind of hard to say that it's not different when you start adding custom spawn points and buildings. What I really mean by saying that it's a different kind of server... Well, we want this to be the kind of server that people say "Wow, yeah, they listen to our feedback!" Take the starting loadout, for example. We've gone through several iterations of starting loadout, all based on feedback from the players. We're trying to strike that fine balance between being well-equipped as one would expect given the background setting we've selected, and still featuring the survival gameplay we've all come to love.

Updated 27Dec12 Rules: -No hacking, obviously. -No voice in side chat, unless your group is the only individuals on the server. -Combat logging STRONGLY discouraged. If we hear too many reports of such, warnings and eventually bans will be handed out. Current state of The Shack: -As of this writing(27Dec12), the server seems to have picked up a few regular groups. The night-time crew has filled out, as has the morning crew. People seem to be staking their claims, and developing positive and negative relationships towards one another. This is good, and what we want to see. We've seen some very creative uses of the large number of vehicles provided, some fairly epic groups formed, and equally epic fights on the ground and in the sky. -There are a few issues with map bugs - to be expected with such a new map. Current bugs as of this writing(13Dec12) are: 1) Sometimes people spawn in deep water. Contact admin to see if we can help you out. [update: should be fixed in tavi2.0] [update #2, this does not appear to be occurring any longer.] 2) Players logging in may find themselves in the same location they left, but in a swimming state. Moving around some seems to fix the issue. If it does not, contact admin. [update: should be fixed in tavi2.0] [update #2: This bug persists with less frequency. Workaround remains the same - move in a direction until you pop up, or if near a vehicle, get in and get out.] 3) A player has reported that his gun/packpack went missing between logging off and logging back in. Admin have not been able to replicate the bug, but some players have decided to place essential weapons and gear in vehicles before logging off. Update 18Dec12: It's been five days and so far we have been unable to replicate this bug. We're assuming it was a one-off event. 4) There is an error at login associated with one of the building types added to the map. There seems to be no ill effect to the error, and we have determined that the building in question adds far more value than the annoyance of the message takes away. Also provides combat loggers with an annoying window, so hah. This has been fixed. 5) In-game repeating messages seem to be broken again - rules posted above in the meantime, warnings will be given out manually more frequently. [update: haven't found a specific fix yet, but hopefully will be included in next bliss update] 6) Using the 'refuel' option while in a vehicle will result in BE kicking the player with a script restriction 44 error. This is a known bug, and apparently a workaround is in development. Note that this does not extend to using the 'refuel from x vehicle' option offered when near a refueling truck - this still works perfectly. UPDATE: The refuel option will work without kick if you are in/on a fuel station. It is only outside of these locations where you will be kicked for using the refuel option. [update: fix in the wind between tavi2.0, new bliss, and Ersan magic] [update again - looks like Ersan magic worked first. just tested, no kick.] -Darkness has been set to around 11pm PST. The rationale for this time instead of 24hr daytime is to allow people who work or go to school to still enjoy DayZ with daylight without completely de-valuing night-time equipment or denying individuals the relatively easier looting to be had at night. -We have set some non-spawning weapons to show up inside of certain vehicles. Check those vehicles, people! Expected future features: -The next version of DayZ(1.7.5) should include: 1) The G36 family of weapons added to loot spawns, 2) The SA.58(vZ.58) family of weapons added to loot spawns, 3) The M40A3 added to loot spawns, 4) The MH-6J littlebird, 5) Zombies spawning while players are in vehicles(no more rolling through empty towns) 6) Zombies damaging vehicle glass. Once glass is gone, players inside vehicles may be damaged. 7) Zombies pulling players from open vehicles. 8) Gender selection screen. 9) Combat mode activated by more events(zombies damaging players) 10) Mi-17 and UH-1H door guns max ammo of 100. 11) Crash sites won't spawn at restart, but rather at random intervals throughout the game. 12) Cargo space of helis and some aircraft reworked; Mi-17 now holds double what the UH-1H can hold, and the AN-2 is a transport monster. 13) Czech vest pouch now holds 12 slots. 14) Zombies talk to each other when within 100m of each other? (no idea what this means, but it'll be fun to find out!) 15) Loads of bugfixes. -The next version of the Taviana map(2.0) should include the following: [update: All now available, undergoing last bit of second stage testing, no major issues yet. Will be deploying over the next ten days or so] 1) M7 Maule bushplane. Hell yeah, a bushplane that isn't huge. 2) Repair trucks. Administration is currently discussing how best to implement these. They may become as rare as fuel trucks are in the current map. 3) UAZ with DShKM HMG. We're particularly excited about this, as the DShKM should provide effective counter to the heavier helos. The DayZ Taviana guys were particularly smart in adding variable ammo counts for armed vehicles - which gives us another tool in which to balance things. 4) MV-22 Osprey. Not sure how we'll handle this - it might just provide the best of both worlds where the C130 and heavy helos are concerned. Balance will be an issue. 5) The GAZ Vodnik and GAZ Vodnik MedEvac. Administration to debate how best to add these(would have really preferred the BRDM-2 HQ - amphibious capability would have been interesting). 6) The Kamaz family of deuce and a half equivalent trucks. More variance in the MTVR/Ural class of vehicles will be nice. 7) HMMWV Ambulance with healing disabled. 8) C-130J without radar, although radar-enabled version is still available. 9) Loads of bugfixes(wood easier to gather, spawning in while swimming issues resolves, etc) FAQs -"I saw a player with a weapon/vehicle that is not in DayZ! Is he a hacker?" Probably not. We have set many access paths to obtain weapons that do not naturally spawn, and just about every vehicle has been tested at some point or another. -"Can you spawn me a car tire?" No. (I was thinking the FAQ might have been a bad idea until I got a decent question:) -"Why are you running the taviana.com version of Taviana instead of the .eu version?" Fair question. Taken at face value as of this writing(18Dec12) and using the 1.7.4.4 version of taviana.com, the .eu version is probably a superior map. We feel that the development of the taviana.com version will put us closer to our goals with the server through a wider selection of vehicles and very open development staff. We can easily track all changes coming in the pipeline and make plans based on that information. We have every confidence that the taviana.com version will be as valid an option as the taviana.eu version in the near future. [any other questions? post 'em up and we'll answer them]

You think that limiting Publish Object will do this? Honest question - unsure myself.

Thank you for the update. We're rooting for you guys.

"We've had a massive hacking incident that is affecting every server and they are all currently offline. We do not have an ETA" -DayZ.st Source: http://twitter.com/dayzdotst

Same here. Not finding any update to apply client side.