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mangozapp

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About mangozapp

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  1. mangozapp

    Less Military. More Apocalyptic. (Clothing)

    ...Mmm... We are seeing some nice new items of clothing, trouble is they all seem to have a lower capacity than the military standards. ...So they stay as a kind of amusing sideshow until they're replaced with military kit. The improvised backpacks are, I think, the most satisfying 'clothing' items in the game. ...Because they're crafted I guess. I want more of that stuff. It'd be so cool if players could craft and modify the existing clothing types - stitch on extra pockets, craft pouches to add to a belt, that kind of thing. But those civilian or DIY outfits need to have the capability to equal or surpass the military issue clothing or they'll not be used. Making a ghillie suit... the effort that takes adds an extensive 'mission' element to building your character that can keep you battling away for several days. That adds so mush to the game. More similarly hard-to-come-by craftable clothing items like that would add so much more... Having the 'easy option' of military for some but for the more hardcore player there's the option of slowly scraping up all the bits and pieces to create his 'perfect' custom outfit. Mmm. I'm just wondering if Bohemia might be frightened of making the game appear too 'cultish' ...Keeping it looking kinda conservative and easily accessible rather than going all out 'crazy farm' with it.
  2. mangozapp

    One thing: View server name in game.

    Hell yeah, the dude's got vision! ...Jeez, just Imagine that - it'd be crazy fun... Just 'click' and there it is in your favorites... That'd be completely nuts.
  3. Groundbreaking suggestion right here... Would it not be mighty pleasurable to be able to check the name of the server whilst playing? I truly think it would for reasons which I reckon just about everyone has experienced but I'll put 'em down here all the same for the sake of argument... ...You've been having trouble getting in a server and end up trying a few and you favorite all of them and then it's real easy to get in a muddle... ...And then there's a restart and you've a ten minute dick-about waiting on the spawn timers while you try to work out where the hell you were... ...And sometimes you just click 'play' feeling all sure of yourself and then you suddenly don't feel sure at all and then you're kinda stuck... ...And then sometimes you wanna tell a mate cause the steam friends jobby doesn't always show up with folks on the other side of the Atlantic and things get all stressy... ...And sometimes you've been toking like a mother and you really don't know your arse from your elbow and there's no knowing nothing... ...And, like, the History seems to order itself by some secret logic that don't give no hints so that's about as much use as a chocolate fireman (no offence)... And so, yeah, it'd be right lovely to be able to press or whatever and just see the server name right there in front of you. Does that sound like a plan? I think that sounds like a plan. Yes sirree, that's a plan and a half by my reckoning. ...Heck, if it saves some time... here, I've done all the design work, just need the code and we're good to go... B)
  4. mangozapp

    Stable Branch - 0.52 Discussion

    Anyone know if persistent vehicles are in the pipeline...? I am most curious about this. ...Or are plans to keep them 'disposable'? I would be greatly obliged to hear any rumors on said matter. Yours, in good faith, verily this yuletide eve, Harmonica.
  5. mangozapp

    Simple but hardcore features

    Interesting ideas... the only trouble is that dicking about with an inventory because things don't fit is generally irritating... even if it may be realistic. So these changes may just have the overall effect of 20 minutes sitting in a tree trying to work out where to put your items rather than the 10 minutes I regularly spend in trees doing that now... which I'd not really enjoy... I do play to be entertained. So, mmm, though I do like your logic and think that way myself - I have to just not think about how that big yellow storage box fits in my trousers - but at the same time, complicating the inventory management more, not sure the game needs that... The inventory system is pretty laggy and clunky at the best of times... This would mean dropping more items while you're sorting stuff out... Getting stuff out of your pack, putting them down to swap them... at present about 1 in every 20 or so items I drop disappears... so I see an increase in that kind of glitch coming with this kind of change. Mmm. Tempted by the split trouser pocket suggestion but... yeah, would it just be annoying...? Not sure.
  6. mangozapp

    Dayz actually becoming DayZ

    Hide kit, press f12; IMITATE ZOMBIE That would be rather cool.
  7. mangozapp

    A new approach to the bandits and heros situation

    I think this is what makes a hero a hero, also (the KOS bit) is what makes the difference between a hero and a friendly noob....That's the slight problem I have with this idea... It's a bit simplistic. Once you've played a lot you realise that there are actually more like 4 kinds of players... and an infinite number of variations between them...KOS noobs - panick firing guys who are crapping themselves constantly - i.e. flank them once or twice and they're out of depth.Friendly noobs - as dead as KOS noobs but crying about it more maybe.Bandits - experienced players who are playing for PVP - but want a good game so they may make exceptions and be quite funny at times.Heroes - Real top tier players who don't go running up to armed people saying 'friendly' but may help someone in trouble, warily or in a group. (And then there are lone wolves who just do what they fancy - KOS sometimes, a hero sometmes... 'free elements') I don't know, I just wrote that quickly so it's questionable. One of the main points is that players playing as heroes, generally, are the most experienced players - that's how it seemed to work in the MOD. Not all experienced players go that way, obviously, but heroics become more likely because they're the ones who are: A> bored of banditry because it's too easy for them. B> have made friends or are in a clan so they have the support needed to approach other players to help them re-equip quickly if things go pear-shaped. C> They've realised that it's up to them to create an entertaining game in the way they play, they're lookig for new scenarios. Personally I think the game works that way, and I think it is realistic, personally. If you had a lot of armed people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder running around a zombie infested wasteland - I think the greater part of them would be pretty edgy and not exactly feeling freindly. ...And, anyway, what use is a hero who can't combat an experienced bandit? It doesn't matter how kind and cuddly he is if he's inexperienced. I think DayZ will see far more heroes coming out as the game progresses, there are A LOT of noobs out there - noob = KOS. By noob I mean someone with less than, say, 6 months playing DayZ. That's how long it takes to really start getting to grips with the tactical end of it and start being able to avoid unwanted interactions. It might take another 6 months then for those players to get bored of using their advantage over noobs and start looking for other scenarios (hero stuff) ...or to quit. Also a BIG part of the hero end of things is tied up with players sticking with the same server. When that starts happening (forced by perpetual bases, vehicles etc.) then you can start actually making friends on a server because you see the same names in the server list and bump into them more than once - allies and enemies appear, trust grows. That game is quite a way off now though. I experienced it on a couple of Epoch servers and it was awesome, a completely different game that brought all sorts of new dynamics. ...Clans, medivac teams patrolling the coast, bandits that you hunted for and had a laugh with. I was a lone wolf but I could call for aid from a couple of clans I'd helped out... something to look forward to. So, yup, I think it's just too early now to find those true RP elements, game development wise but also, maybe more importantly, player development wise. B)
  8. mangozapp

    Fuel Source Depletion And Alternative Fuel Sources (Server Uptime)

    In the UK, at least, running on veg oil is perfectly legal. Only fairly hardcore, mechanically minded folks tend to use veg oil however as, though it's pretty simple, it's pretty time consuming sourcing the stuff and filtering it so it doesn't cause problems. Also only pre-CPU vehicles (mid nineties or earlier) tend to enjoy the experience so that disqualifies 95% of car owners - which is probably why it remains legal. ...But that is all very off topic. ;) ON topic: I think the main problem with this idea is server hopping. If you've found an empty vehicle and have run a long way to find an empty fuel station I think very few people are going to be able to resist hopping - if the alternatives are either running miles to another (which might also be empty) or a whole lot of looting to craft an alternative fuel - knowing that either option will likely mean the vehicle will be gone by the time you've done that - with it probably being taken by someone who isn't so 'morally correct' and has simply hopped at the nearby station. In the other scenario, where you have the car but you run out of fuel near an empty fuel station... You've the same choices but then you're really trusting that it won't be found by a server hopper because there's a station 'right there' for him to hop from... So, naa, sorry, knowing DayZ I'd join the hoppers in that situation and save myself the frustration of feeling like I'm the only one 'playing with honour'. If you're playing in a team then it's a bit different, you could guard the car then while one messes about... But lone wolves, I think would be hard pushed not to server hop. Mmm.
  9. mangozapp

    Dayz actually becoming DayZ

    Yep, it was kinda amusing the first time it happened but got very boring very quickly. Playing as Zed = long unarmed coast run looking for fresh-spawn to claw at. ...Because there's 0% chance against a player with a weapon. And you can't exactly have armed zeds... or, well, it gets a bit silly then. Why bother with that when you could be looting for a new character...? So becoming a zed, in practice, would probably mean being forced to mess about trying to commit suicide between each game and double the time spent staring at a server list and logging in/out - and if you're playng with friends that's even more annoying. Remember the standalone motto: It's just an alpha and everything's just a 'place holder'. :rolleyes:
  10. Vehicles, when they're implemented, are the perfect opportunity for this ethos I think... OP mentions tools being rarer, this could be the case but you might add in a Haynes Workshop Manual or some such which the repairer must have in order to diagnose and repair non trivial faults beyond that of a flat tyre for example. Tooling, repair parts and these manuals could mean players are forced to strip down other items in their inventory so that, in essence, they become a mechanic/driver with reduced combat capabilty - so they need the support/protection of other players. This could also be done by making mechanical operations seriously time consuming i.e. 3 or 4 minutes for a wheel change meaning protection is needed whilst carrying out those operations. Wheels and other large repair items could take an entire backpack to carry making another player essential for such repairs. I dreamt a long while back of a 'live' battery system in the Standalone on vehicles - I imagine there being a lot of flat batteries in the apocalypse - so those vehicles had to be 'bump started' - pushed. This would need two players at a minimum. I just thought that could make for some absolutely classic mega-panicky play scenarios with a bunch of you desperately trying to push-start your old Trabant out of Chernogorsk... Leaving the driver in the car with the engine running in case it doesn't start... But... It's probably too much to ask for. :blush:
  11. mangozapp

    Craftable Rocket Stove...?

    Methinks one of these little fella's could bring a certain survivalists 'je ne sais quoi' to the cooking kit. And some added choice/depth to cooking and heating. A large one crafted from a jerry can, a small one from empty spray cans or food/drinks cans (or combination).Large one requires hacksaw, pliars to craft... small one a knife and a screw driver.It's fuelled with sticks (no gas cans running out).Could also be fuelled with a little gasoline... Oooh interesting.It boils water faster than an open fire.It gives off less light than an open fire but, possibly, a touch more than a gas stove.The small one might only take up one slot making it more efficient to carry than a gas stove.It requires a cooking pot/pan like the <gas> stove.It can be used as an efficient source of heat for the player in cold weather.It's just kinda cool, has the word 'Rocket' in it and, well, what self respecting survivor wouldn't craft their own stove dude? Sneaky second suggestion: gas cans used to carry water so you can chill and refill at your tent while your bacon sizzles on your teensy weensy little stovey wovey poo poo.
  12. mangozapp

    Gasoline Canister Mechanincs

    Yup, kind of novelty value of these ideas would wear off pretty quick... And few players would carry a flamethrower after they'd tried it out for fun - you'd be spotted miles away using it and it'd be no use for defending against those players it attracted. So I think that'd just be clutter. Fun, yeah, but clutter. It'd be nice if there were other uses though... off the top of my head... Cut up with hacksaw to make a small rocket/hurricane stove - maybe less visible than an open fire and faster cooking times.Carrying/storing large amounts of water and cutting in half to collect rain water (both after cleaning with detergent maybe to avoid poisoning - yay a use for detergent!)Cut into makeshift cooking pot with hacksaw - less efficient than a proper pot but does the jobCut into makeshift helmet :lol:...Need Tin Snips adding to industrial loot to craft these instead of a hacksaw maybe - poss use of pliars also/either/or.And 101 other things you can make from tin.........
  13. mangozapp

    DayZ 0.5 first impression after long break

    I think it's going down the right track now r.e. weapon availability (ignoring the obvious glitch with those overflowing spawn points). I say good riddance to the M4 en masse - it never fitted with the Eastern Block theme, just having them at US heli crashes does make sense. I've been pleasantly surprised playing for the first time again for a few months to find PVE already quite entertaining - well, the hunting, fishing and cooking can make for a fairly laid back run-around. Not being able to carry everything you'd ideally have for that game style at the same time - fishing rod, spade/hoe, bait, bow, arrows, axe... That works and keeps you from just being able to sit in the woods. And your main tools - axe and knife - both those wear out and force you back to civilisation too. After playing a bit like that you can't help but get attached to your character... because you survive a lot longer. You end up getting more cautious about going into populated areas. ...And that works, it brings back a bit of that first-play 'buzz', the paranoia. Well, it has done for me, having been a DayZ player since the mod came out. If I want to play war I play wasteland with a .50cal and MK48 mod. This PVE element is what makes DayZ work. Having to play for days before you've your 'dream' setup, that's what's needed, imo. That's what creates the learning curve - it means that the top tier players might be the guys you never encounter rather than the best shot. That's DayZ, imo. If you want to be running and gunning with an M4 and full outfit after an hour or so's play - where do you go from there? ...and, even if the heavy PVP's your thing, well, DayZ is just a bit pants as a first person shooter - you might simply not find anyone and when you do you've dodgy frame rate and lag to contend with half the time and end up coming away pissed off because you got shot because of that rather than in a satisfying battle - or you simply get so bored running around looking for people that you stop thinking and run right into a headshot. No, keep the PVP lean and mean. So, like airgrafix, I say if you ain't enjoying 0.5 then diversify a bit, DayZ is what you make it. Get yourself into the woods with your penknife ( ...hmm, that gives me an idea: swiss army knife...) Find yourself an ash tree and get whittling - you can even whack up your textures, flick the old clouds on, hell slam some bloom in there while you're at it... and enjoy the view for once. B) ...And then crap yourself when you go inside a building and you can't see out. And, aye... I look forward to trying a bit of Namalsk style winter when the temperature system's ironed out - That'll be hardcore. Thumbs up. (But, oh, what I'd give for a nice red bicycle.)
  14. ...ach, why did that double post...? And why can't I delete a post? Hmm.
  15. I'm sorry to hear that dude, I don't know a lot about it but Russia doesn't sound like a very easy place to be right now (welcome to capitalism). I think many gamers play for this reason or something similar, hard-core gamers anyway. I played far too much last year for this reason myself. The sad thing I see now is that we make the in-game world pretty much the same as the one we're running from - we import the frustrations we feel in real life into the game world and take them out on other gamers. You feel like you've been fucked over in real life so you go and fuck someone up in-game to feel a bit more powerful. Obviously that is a massive simplification of a very complex problem, everyone has their own reasons and difficulties... Scientifically, I think I can say simulators were invented to test out previously untested interactions in a safe way - Is that what is happening in DayZ...? I don't think so, we're just doing the exact same things we've always done - re-running what we already know... ...I know I feel a great dissatisfaction with the way the world is right now, politically etc. I feel more and more people feel the same way and are questioning the old rules - Mr Big getting all the beans...etc. So there are a lot of people looking for something different, a different way of operating socially - they're sick and tired of the shit they have to put up with; the shit they're asked to accept in the 'real' world. That's what I feel makes the 'escape' that games can offer so attractive. BUT, I feel that 'escape' idea is an out-dated attitude to gaming - a game like DayZ is a simulated world but it's actually populated by real people and so it should not be looked at purely as an escape. The fact is there is, there is a real culture of real people here and we're really meeting in-game when we play together. That, I think, is proved by the very real hatred that hackers inspire in a player. So I have a wish to see more gamers doing something different: Actually using the safe-zone that this simulation offers to try something new - instead of just continually repeating all the bullshit we see in the real world and thus making the game world just another place to fuck each other up... Just a place where we can reverse the old rolls and give the shit instead of receiving it... Whichever way round the exchange is going, the fact is it's still just the same old stinking piece of shit that we're throwing back and forth. I can't help but think that there is a possibility in these games to drop that stuff and create a culture that we actually like, something we can be genuinely proud of; something new, something better - we might actually use this technology, all this time we have to waste, to teach ourselves to interact in a different way... And while we're doing it stick a big finger up at those rich, tired old men that think they know how the world works. And if we have the balls to do that, we might be able to take that new way back out and into the 'real world'. There is an opportunity there, I feel, just waiting for someone to recognize it. ...Well its been said now... the choice is yours, continue spreading the shit or try something new? That's obviously a very idealistic vision... But it is happening in some ways already - the diplomatic way these games are developed - half a million people giving their suggestions, working to find something that satisfies them; that's something very new I think. I know the games companies may be using this approach simply for profit reasons but, all the same, something new is happening... maybe. Or, at least, it could happen. What is there to lose? We're playing anyway, nobody really gets hurt. Personally, I would find it much more interesting in-game to be exploring these kind of social things (yes, at the same time as playing DayZ) rather than being able to predict pretty easily what everybody is going to do - shoot first and ask questions later....Trying to become as powerful as we can so we can feed off other players. It's not exactly creative thinking... Once you've played for a while, as I have (understatement of the year), well, that gets pretty dull - I'm a good shot, well whoopy-do! Yes, you do see a little creative thought happening when the game is new but having watched the mod's evolution, I know that after a couple of months those interesting interactions will get thrown out and pretty much everyone will return to the same old strategies - bandits and heroes - cowboys and Indians. I suppose I am a little disappointed with the games companies, with the Dev team and Bohemia for seemingly feeding the lowest common denominator... It puzzled me the way there was so much talk about reducing KOS and pushing something more interesting but then when it came out... What had changed? A load more military bases... What are the best clothes? Military clothes... What is the best weapon? Every red-neck's wet dream: the M4A1... It kind of said "Yeah, sorry guys but this gun-ho shit makes money, and hey everybody loves the US army right...? Everybody wishes they were a soldier right...?" For those of us who actually find that whole military museum thing a bit f***ing dull (to say the least) it was like "Ah. OK, right... So its back to KOS then... Its a Military Simulator with a few zombies thrown in." Bit of a wasted opportunity in my opinion.... And now most players have gone with that idea they've been fed, they've become focused on the warfare aspect, on making themselves as dangerous as possible... we've been hooked back into that mentality. While that mentality is actually being fed by the Dev team (though they maybe don't realise it) there's very little room for any more interesting things to happen: the Arma Mil-sim community will dominate. The sad truth is, a lot of those guys don't have the imagination to realise that something else could actually be far more interesting for them... "I want my M107 Mummy!" ...So they'll rubbish any ideas that threaten the easy fix they've be given. ...Sheesh... I'm inviting a lot of shit for writing that... But hey, I don't really expect anyone to actually think... We're the guys who sit at home playing games right? We're the guys that never quite made it... You can't expect us to think! Lets just grab whatever we can to take away the boredom... Leave the real world for the very real men with their very real rifles - the ones that leave foot-soldier's completely unable to relate to their wives, families and friends back home... the ones that leave them crawling about under the office tables when they get back from the front... AKA my Grandfather, Lt. Andrew Watson GM of the Lancashire Fusiliers - Battle of Kohima veteran: Relevant? You tell me. ...I do know this is the real world... and I'd prefer DayZ offered a real escape from it.... Rather than this thinly veiled mil-sim we're getting now. My personal effort to find an alternative: http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/170411-sil-subject-test-16/ P.S. B.A.R.R.E.T - Nebilo...? Struggling with that word... Try again dude.
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