Shag

Er, this is the ideas section. Ideas are valid at any point of the development cycle. This is more project management - should we implement idea a before idea b? Does it make a difference to judging the success of idea C?

As with all things, there is no one quick fix, but a collection of small adjustments could really divert trends and change the gameplay. None of these changes should be abstract constructs like bandit skins. 1. Change zed back to being a threat by: a) Increasing numbers a lot, especially around high value loot - and I include deer stands. I see a lot of tens set up near 2/3 deer stands for loot camping. A good idea as it is fairly risk free military loot. b) It is a shame the bug when entering buildings, as this is a large factor in nullifying the zed threat. I can aggro a zombie, run out of town (spawn radius) into a barn (could be 500M away) and calmly pop them all off - no threat at all. c) As mentioned above, I can outrun zed and not take hits. Can zed be made to hit you without stopping? Or make them faster than you so they can hit you? d) The above make zed very very deadly, to compensate, remove the unrealistic zig zag attack vector, so I have a better chance of taking out zombies from distance. They're deranged infected with only base cognitive functions - the direct attack line seems more likely. e) Mess about with detection radious and sight/hearing once the above is implemented, as a fine tuning for balance. f) Can zed be made to hear you better when coughing somehow? g) Add anothe "investigate" state. If you don't aggro every zombie when killing one, but the ones within 200M all start shuffling towards you... cool. If you're in the middle of a town, how the fuck do you get out of this one. h) have some zeds wander into buildings, be stationary in buildings/outside. reduce frequency of vocalisations - have zed be unpredictable and surprise us. i) Zombie herds moving from town to town. j) Zombies also sometimes in the wilderness. Reasoning - forces players to team up to get the best loot and combat the threat of zed, which doesnt exist right now. Its fun getting a team a cover each other against them. 2. Make comms more realistic. a) Remove all the global chat - this pisses me off big time b) Direct comms is back on beta servers and this really helps "DONT SHOOT DONT SHOOT". c) Direct comms briefly increase the sound you give off, maybe zombies hear you? Reasoning - No man is an island. Without global chat, lone wolf play becomes less fulfilling for many. 3. Reduce food/drink loot a) Force the use of canteens more, not so much soda everywhere. b) The above forces people into choke points like supermarkets (change spawn to be just foor/drink) See point 1 about adding larger numbers of zed around high value loot, supermarkets should be dangerous. Add a bandit into this mix! Increase difficulty, forces teamwork to restock. 4. Add some random events? a) AI controlled clean up teams? Government sends in crack units to clean the mess up and remove witnesses. Shoot player on sight. Very deadly. Have choppers etc. b) Unlockable missions somehow? High value loot reward. c) Make these mostly up north, meaning you need to be about 4-5 hours into a game. People are becoming bored when they get their cool equipment, give them something cool to do. 5. I really really love the character generation block of 1-2 hours when you die. This fixes many issues like respawning for better start location, deathmatch gameplay style on the coast etc. Now if we could just solve the issue of server hopping and only playing in daylight servers.

just no!

agreed agreed agreed text chat pisses me off. local chat only plz.

I actually believe you don't need any new mechanic to use socialization as a mechanic to prevent murders. Simply just remove global comms. Many people do socialize through online games, and seem to chat away even when at opposite ends of the map. Remove this ability, and people have to group to socialize. Once grouped to socialize, people can see how you play. We then get groups of hunters and groups of survivors, and everybody organizes more and has a fuller epxerience.

more interesting are the zombies. fast and not zig zagging.

I love the temperature idea, the elements/night should make you cold, and bring into play more gameplay possibilities if one day (perhaps amra 3) we get different clothing items. What I think would be quite cool is a dynamic whereby you have to be careful where you create your fire. I column of grey/black smoke extended a couple hundered meters into the air would make a decent game mechanic of hunters seeking out smoke, and other hunters laying traps etc etc etc. I would also be slightly tempted to remove ability to make fire indoors for reasons mentioned above. It also brings the world alive. The other day I was scouting with binos and saw two people huddled around a fire. Seemed to make the world more real right there. Fire is risky for patrols in the army I'm sure some ex-soldier will point out. Haven't seen a fire at night, but going the whole night without lighting one should leave you open to problems. Can you see the glow stronger than a flare? I hope it is similar.

bumped - does nobody think this is a quick win feature to add a little more stategy depth and realism?

i wish they were in buildings more for sure - dont care where they spawn.

we're all gamers, and all a bit geeky, but you my friend need to get out more. you're not better than us, just sounds like you could do with filling your real life up a little.

Ok Zombie wander and attack. Can we give them a third state, investigate? If a zombie sees you they aggro. If a zombie hears something, like you creeping, or a gunshot, they investigate. This state lasts for say 30 seconds/1 minute where they shuffle towards the sound source and then patrol there until time expired. During this time if they hear something else, the state resets and they investigate the new sound. Investigate, they give no audible cue that they have changed their behaviour, so can catch you out. Zombie only aggros when they actually see you - FOOD! With this, perhaps we could increase the audio detection radious? Gunshots in built up areas should really be much more risky. On other zombie points: -They should be slightly faster than we are to prevent 5 mile races. -Some zombies should be stationary -Zeds should be inside houses much more, we need more unpredictability. -Shouldn't zig-zag, the game combat system wasn't designed for close combat like this. My cross hair doesn't do exactly what i want.

This thread started out with an example of (and I saw something similar today) four of five brainless deathmatch types running around elektro. I have no issues with any type of gameplay machanic you want to employ, but sometimes they snap you ou of the illusion of the setting. I have seen threads about zombie olympics, where players pick up a horde of zombies and run through cherno. i'm not going to make any other remark on this other than, it is breaking the suspense of disbelief somewhat. something that the excellent base of arma and the brutal bleak gamesetting you have fostered with no rules really caught my imagination. there aren't enough original games with freedom to do what yoy want. I love the two extremes of human nature, hunter and survivor. I myself murdered my first survivor today, because he had a good weapon, then felt guilty for ages - perfect! do not change this. I understand the hypocracy of taking issue with this. what can i do to chaneg this myself? avoid the areas... ok agreed. I just think it may be wiser to make the juiciest areas, the most attractive targets for everyone, more of an ordeal. the disrespect people are showing the zombie apocolypse is just breaking the illusion. I know, it isnt finished yet. but i will keep playing and keep giving my feedback. please don't rage if it isn't what you want to hear :)

Zombies need a serious buff in prime locations.

I think a good yard stick is when you get an empty server. As a new spawned characted with a shitty pistol i can go into cherno and take a whole bunch of cool stuff. Not good. I think that to go into the main areas of the game with all the best stuff should require the coming together of two or three survivors minimum, with some military grade hardware - JUST TO GET PAST ZEDS.... let alone the added threat of hunters lurking using high end loot as bait. One very quick win way to do this would be to change the numbers of zombies attached to certain buildings. Supermarkets, municipal office, houseB tenemant (the hotel in cherno), panela (appartments in cherno) land a office (big office in electro) should all the number of zombies doubled. The zombie levels in outlaying smaller villages are fine for me. Long wolf players should be able to raid these places.

sanctamonius know it alls rattling around these forums by the dozen. camping a known spawn point is certainly an exploit of the game mechanics, anyone doing it should get a warning in my view. the guy is perfectly within his rights to raise the issue forum nazis. and player killing is part of the game - as a means of survival. these guys are just being arseholes.

americas army 2 used to do this really well. you could hear opfor shout to each other.

Had a similar idea myself. I love it - it feels more natural than magive food = blood mechanic. Excellent suggestion.

I have no issues finding food and drink around the map. I can even go on a bean bender in an effort to gain blood. I don't like this mechanic. Food should not replenish blood at all. Instead, we should replenish blood gradually over time (we are humans and this is what we do), but when replensihing we burn food and water quickly (double rate?) When injured, we should be forced to try and find extra food/drink which would be difficult with blurred vision and a decrease in spawn rates. I think this would lead to some good game mechanics. You're a staunch moralistic player, never murdered anyone... but you have been alive for 24 hours and have some of the best gear you have ever had. You drop below 5000 blood and can't find food quick enough to keep going. Then another player runs down the road below you... I have no issues having enough soda that I have yet to need to fill my canteen - I feel a whole aspect of my harsh fight for survival is missing. I want that tin of beans to be worth more than your new best friends life?!?@! It is also too hard to get blood levels back without a transfusion. Hopefully this change will fix these two issues in one go, while removing some unrealsitic game constructs.

I don't like much of what you say, but you have hit one nail right on the head with regards reducing player killing. Removal of global comms will really sort out rampant hunting. If you bascially spend the entire game time wandering around on your own with no global chat, people may naturally start to feel a little isolated. If the only way people can interact is by proximaty, then naturally people will group. My God it is so simple it is brilliant. There is no need for side objectives etc etc.

The best screenshot I think, would be a good promo shot. Captures much of the atmosphere of the game for me.

No time passing is another issue and i think is fine as is. Why make time go quicker when u could just reduce spawn speed/locations for food and drink and have the same effect. If you have one beans and one soda when you log out you're pretty safe. Relog - eat/drink - find next can/soda in nearest low value spawn point...

I feel that the weapon modelling is still at an early stage. They do seem out of whack. However, most combat in the game does happen over short distances, and at this range it mostly comes down to aim and speed. Another issue in weapon choice is ammo, and if military weapons arent really that effective in this scenario, why is their ammo soo frickin scarce?

Personally I would like DayZ to be another DLC mission on Arma, and you both (BI and DayZ) having fair reward for all your efforts. With more cash comes a more polished product, and with BI sharing the rewards, perhaps comes access to the source code and some dev support from them. It seems an obvious path to the best most polished gaming experience for the player base, and you get some cash too. BI happy with greater sales and DLC revenue to cover costs.

I like to avoid unnatural play restrictions to get the most out of an implemented feature. The supermarkets should be a real hotbed of tension, as is true of many zombie appoc films/series. Food should be hotly contested as airfields. Why are no clans offering to secure supermarkets in the same way as airfields... cos there is too much food. Has anybody ever refilled their canteen regularly?