Doughboy72

Donkamints, don't listen to these guys. You're right, hacking is WAY out of control. If you have nice gear, or if you kill someone fair and square-- Someone gets pissy and kills everyone in the server. Attack helicopters, spawning items for themselves, teleporting on top you, them teleporting YOU on top of them, it's endless. It's steadily becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Banning someone isn't even a permanent solution-- all the need to do is buy a new key, and voila! They're back in the game terrorizing everyone. Survivors and bandits both deal with this. Having a survivor playstyle myself, I appall anyone cheating to get an edge. Bandits (well, the REAL bandits) deny any affiliation with cheaters, knowing that the fun is in the hunt. We can't be testing a buggy game like Day Z with these cheaters out of control. I can state with assurance that Rocket is pissed about it, too-- Hacking/cheating violates the basic premises that make this game so compelling in the first place. He knows it's a big problem. But they're a small team working on a HUGE mod (and some of them are working on ArmA III, too). This problem will get fixed, but it will take time. In Rocket We Trust. Take it easy, lemon squeezy. Edit: To the players who are discounting the seriousness of the situation, it's only going to get worse. I'd never encountered hackers until about three weeks ago, now I see some form of it every other day. It will get worse.

Before I begin, lemme say that I have no game developing skills whatsoever. I like Chenarus. It's a fun map. But it's getting old. Same old routine-- Spawn on the beach, run to nearest barn, grab a shotgun, run to Balota or Berezino and get some military gear, then head north. Stop by a lake to refill my canteen, meet up with survivors, shoot a bandit or get shot by a bandit and start over. That's my jam. But it's wearing thin. Not the gameplay, but the same old map that we've been doing it on. How difficult would it be to have more maps? Is it feasible? There are a ton of great community made maps that offer varying terrain and environments (like rivers, which all seem to have dried up ages ago). New cities to raid, new airfields to excursion to-- at the end of the day, it's the same great game, just a different area. Of course, there is the issue of characters-- off the top of my head, I'd say just have a profile for each map (so you can't carry gear over from map to map). It'd be like controlling a totally different survivor (or bandit!) in another part of the world that was also hit by the infection. Like I said, I'm no tech guru. I have no idea how the Day Z team would accomplish this (if they ever wanted to). Here are some maps I've played on in ArmA II and others I've just now found: http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=12883 http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=7467 http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=13631 http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=11300 http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=10839 What are your thoughts? Good idea, bad idea, tech issues, maps you've played you would want to see in Day Z, etc?

Yeah, without a doubt I think that would make things waaaaay more interesting, especially having the rivers uncrossable in a couple of places. Just to make having to cross that shallow part or using that bridge that much more intense.

^ People have converted the original OFP map, Everon, to ArmA II. The same with Sarahni from ArmA. I don't think it is difficult to port maps over and re-texture everything. Also, people need to un-knot their panties about "Hurrdurr Day Z isn't ready yet." No duh. It won't be ready for a LONG time. No one expects a new map soon, or even at all, and if you do you need a reality check. This is supposed to be a discussion thread about how you would like to see something like this implemented. It's entirely hypothetical.

For you nay-sayers, I would like to remind you all of how awesome the Carnivores series was. I like dinosaurs.

Yeah not a fan of the ladder climbing zombies. But new players, don't get discouraged. Keep your chin up and you'll get the hang of it.

I just skimmed over your article, so I haven't read it in depth. But here are a few things I picked up on just from buzzing over it: 1- There is a tutorial: it's the Arma II OA tutorial. Play it through a few times to get comfortable with the controls and how your inventory works. The reason the UI is clunky at first is because BIS never hired a team to develop it. But, once you get to know it, you'll find that it isn't a BAD UI per se, it just takes a minute to get used to. 2- As far as melee goes, you already know the OFP engine doesn't support melee-- and I wouldn't expect that to change. The ArmA series is a mil-sim series, and soldiers do not run around smacking people with the butt of their ARs and bitch-slapping the rest with hatchets. I think it would be a bit ridiculous for BIS to develop melee just for the Day Z mod (and I hope it remains a mod forever). 3- I like your idea of a panic button. But I also don't want a panic button. The appeal of Day Z is the difficulty. I do not want it watered down personally. If you have troubles with double shift or double w, just change your keybindings. They are entirely changeable. But, also, ArmA is buggy as hell (I find it charming), so sometimes you are going to have shit go wrong. 4- Spawning with each other-- Yes if your character has been alive for a set amount of time, say the amount of one full in-game day. But respawning characters should always start at the beach. 5- Ammo. It should remain as it is. The best weapons should be the most difficult to find ammo for. Also, this is more in touch with reality than being able to pick up standardized "Assault Ammo" or "Shotgun Shells". 6- I am also a fan of slow zombies. The "Max Brooks zombie" is my standard by which all other zombies are judged. But, slow zombies don't make for a very good video game. Not Day Z anyway. 7- I don't like the new starting loadout either. 8- By now I have read your entire article-- D'oh! But anyway. This may be me sounding like a hipster, but I like how inaccessible the Day Z mod can be. I think it weeds out most of the casual players, and that's why we have such a tight community. I like the difficulty, I like how something totally random like a broken bone can ruin your day, how you have to choose between that CZ 550 or the M14 you were so lucky to find because choosing one means the ammo you need is limited and tucked into the most dangerous corners of the map. I like that the zeds make you haul ass out of whatever hole your were hiding in, because you screwed up and it cost your friend his life. I like no melee mechanics, because that means some douchebag is never going to come up behind me at the airfield and 'knife' me. Killing is a simple matter of priority-- the risk of getting that bandit vs the risk of aggro-ing every zombie a half mile around. I hope these things never change. Day Z is cruel and unforgiving, everything from the UI to gameplay mechanics need to continue to reflect this. I will never play another zombie game ever.

I'm worried about bandits patrolling the area for survivors inbound and outbound.

Just started my own group on steam called the United Survivors of Chenarus. It's the same thing-- hurt those who hurt others, protect the weak. I've always wanted to do something like this but just made the page today, came here to feel out what others are doing. Do you have a clan tag for your group so I can add it to my groups 'friendly' list?

I want Day Z to remain as a mod. I'm scared the game will go downhill if it becomes a standalone franchise. But... If it HAD to become standalone, I'd want it to stick with the OFP engine and have everything in it that makes it so much fun-- the brutal, unforgiving gameplay. Bullet drop, bleeding out, having to crawl through infested streets. This is what I love. It has a homemade feel to it that I don't want it to lose. It's charming.

Current setup: m14, 1911, a few smoke 'nades. Knife, hatchet, matches, compass, watch (useless IMO), binoculars, map, GPS. A great setup that was bequeathed to me by a bandit that shot me, then got mauled by zeds. I spawned 1.5km from our dead bodies and looted BOTH our corpses. I really owe him for the m14, that's my favorite gun of all time IRL and the game certainly does it justice. Just wish it came with an acog or something :/ Only things that would make this my dream setup is having a coyote backpack with room for a Winchester :) and the bandit skin. I'm no bandit, but I love that skin.

Why doesn't BIS just make you a project head or whatever and release Day Z as an official expansion to the ArmA series? Make it a DLC so it still shares the characteristics with ArmA that make this mod so popular-- Brutal, unwavering reality.