hoik

Enjoying the update - But I have been experiencing a bug. The combat log icon seems to get stuck and is always flashing - it is apparent that I am not actually in combat or being chased because I can press escape and abort no problem. This same bug seems to also effect my hunger and thirst meters, they simply stay green forever. I don't think my health icon was effected because I saw it go down. But on a different life, I had just survived a fire fight and was looking directly at my health. It said it was full and I wasn't bleeding, then I fell over dead - reapered in the debug forrest (thats the barrens at the edge of the map??) for a moment - then Im back in town (in a different room/house) and I pass out - the hourglass is spazzing out and hitting Esc did nothing. So I had to Alt - F4 :( . Anyway, I don't know if that was a hacker or what... it was strange to say the least.

*Cloths being worn out/dirty over time* Ah, yeah it hasn't been confirmed by rocket. But looking at this (http://dayzmod.com/f...yz-concept-art/) very old thread which had offical concept art for DayZ mod (I assume it was still being overlorded :P by rocket at this time) I think that something along these lines may be in the works. As far as performance - I couldn't say how something like this would effect the game. But if I could put up with Max Payne 3 being 40gb, with its limited content, well you get the point.

As far as I've heard, you're clothes will get dirty over time and how dirty they get will be dependent on what you do (eg crawling around in the dirt or running through swamps!).

A hastle free solution for the mod, simply double tap " - " (minus) on the num pad (it toggles "zoom out"), instant wider FOV! But yes, the more options the better, I was also interest to see there may be more detailed graphics options.

About the "scroll lock" button - my keyboard doesn't have one... I googled it and apparently many newer keyboards simply dont have them - so can I rebind this key somewhere?

Great stuff - now where am I and what was I doing??

Yeah, you dont have a choice - it burns into your retina!!

Exellent.

I though of something simular, but instead of the CH appearing after a amount of time, it could be contextual. Eg. looking at/near a door, lader, can of beans etc. will activate a subtle CH (like the white one you suggest). This cross hair should be totally independant of aiming so that it can not be exploited.

I think of this is in the terms of a movie - Given that DayZ is a sandox, we are the directors of the story. The game desgin takes on a more subtle but equaly significant role that impacts how the game/movie is percived (and therefore how people play it) which I belive is simular to being a cinematographer. I don't know, this might not be the best comparison :) . Heres some thoughts on utilising our "gamey" impulses to add intrest and depth to the game.It lets players satisfy their natural impulses. From here: http://dayzmod.com/f...sa/page__st__60 I think this idea is interesting because it adds value to the game across a large spectrum - PvP, PvP-self defence, Survival and Atmospher/Story. While I fully understand the role a skill system can fill, I am still reluctant to say yes! Giving players a reason to value themselves, as well as those around them is complex, and I think there can be a less obvious and more satisfying solution. P.S This thread has been great by the way :) .

Some of the scariest and most atmospheric moments I have had in dayZ has been at night. Being chased through town by Z'ds and catching snapshots of zombies as my torch light madly strobes the screen is very fun and very scary. As far as improvement go, I believe I read in a QA somewhere that the team who worked on improving aspects of night time in ArmA 3 are helping out the DayZ team. My tip for night time: Try switching HDR (High Dynamic Range?) to high/very high, in your video settings, when playing night servers. It can provide a subtlety to the tones of darkness IMO - but during the day it can detract significantly from your frame rates when set to very high.

I concur! Good idea. My 2 cents - what if you could simpy choose server attributes, like pop-density (high/med/low), maximum ping, etc. rather than looking through a server list, and then you are automatically connected to whichever server suits your needs? It'ed be mighty user friendly...

My preference is no crosshairs - Playing without them makes Arma or DayZ quite a different experience. And untill you have had a good crack at playing without them i don't think you can appreciate this. The thing is many players will not even consider it (obviously not the ones posting here :) ) and so a little force feeding will have to take place - and not without a little kicking and screaming... IMO the main reason to play with crosshairs is for ease of use (figuring out laders and doors does not take much effort, but is klunky in gerneral and needs improvement :) ) - and because that is what you are used to. Does that sound like dayZ?.

I suggest alternatives - and there is no "bashing" on my part. I fully understand what the OP is on about and think that skills are one way of giving life value in DayZ. It is also the most obvious one IMO. All I want to do is try to bring to light other possibilities. I understand that subtlety is a hard thing to convey in forums, so this " :P " was just a friendly jab in the ribs, not a slap in the face.

Lol! Love it :) .

It is definatly a tough one. Like many ideas I see on the forums, it is hard to say for sure how a mechanic will effect players without actually testing it in game. Maybe in combination with clothing customisation (I want spurrs that make a "clink, clink, clink" everywhere I go :) ) and some sort of linage system (eg. having a "surname" that is perminatly associated with your GUID/cd key, or maybe being able to select certain items as heirlooms/momentos) you would be able to build different levels of customisation, some that are finite and will be lost and other that are not. IMO it will probably have to be a combination of systems/mechanics to tailer to the variety of ways people view and play DayZ.

I have become convinced that disease and immunities is the answer to character progression (eg "skills") in DayZ. It does several things: - Provides a very subtle way to "level up" characters. - Provides risk/ reward system. I would imagine only two ways to gain immunity 1. catch the disease and survive it 2. Vacination (which also has risks). - It also gives you incentive to try and survive what ever horrible disease you have. - Makes character progression take time, and depend on cercumstance. Randomness/ Time = Value. - Logically links your skills to a single life/reincarnation. This also = Value. - "Gaming" or "grinding" this skill has some bases of belivablility. We "game" diseases in real life - chicken-pox party anyone? - "Gaming" or "grinding" a disease may not be so easy when you don't know for sure what disease you are going to catch! - Provides advantages to both non-PvP and PvP aspects of survival. - Gives no direct advantage/disadvantage to PvP. EDIT: more advantages of immunities - Visual indicator: There will be a visual indicator of how likely a player is to have some sort of immunity. Veteran players (in terms of time spent alive) will have a distinct look compared to noobs. - It encourages intimate knowlede of "yourself" in game, as well as building knowledge of diseases. This also = value. To have to get to "know" your character again would be a pain in the arse! - Can incourage teamplay. Different players will have different immunities - one player may be able to access areas or objects in safety that others can not - for the benifit of the group. - etc. I'm sure there is other things I havn't thought of. Well, will you give up on a traditional skill system :P.

I actually had to re-read my OP :) . Firstly I'll just argue that if 3 clans were sitting about in perfect harmony thay would all be adding time to the "clock", not waiting for its inevitable end. Though, the longer they live the longer it will take to add time to the clock (because you only add time based on the Average Life Expectancy (ALE) of people on the server). But if you then add deminishing food supplies as ALE goes up, while increasing the chance of high level loot, you create a powder keg where eventually someone is gonna explode ! People start killing eachother for food, the ALE goes down, which = food supply goes up and weapon quality goes down, things start again - well that the general idea :) . IMO it is very tough to create game mechanics that can influence how players place value on themselves and others without introducing things that interupt people from playing the game and refocuses them on "playing" the game. (Working the system). A possible key is subtlety - extreme subtlety. That is how this idea would work, it is also how the skill system discussed here: http://dayzmod.com/f...system-in-dayz/ would work (which is where I assume you came from :) ). And while I support it, at the same time I think that DayZ deserves something much more original. And I think this is where disease comes into play - yes, I beleive disease is going to be how Dean will implement a form of character progression.

Lol - I wasn't 100% if semantics was the appropriate word :blush: . I just meant that the added benifits of my idea compared with the OPs is minimal with a bonus, cosmetic benifit.

A lot of good discussion here :) . I thought Id bring up two old threads of mine as they both relate to giving players lives intrinsic value. Though they may be too complex/convoluted I think they could provide different perspective on how players might give longterm value to themselves and other players. Global Causality - http://dayzmod.com/f...-scope-of-dayz/ Life/Death Calculator - http://dayzmod.com/f...c-valueculture/

I don't know about the specifics of the diseases that are planed to be in the SA, so I don't know if immunities could come into play. If they could, I think this would bring a whole other aspect to how diseases could actually be used as a game mechanic in DayZ. eg. to "level up" (gamey term, I don't mean in the tradition sense) our avatars and have something aside from loot that will be lost when we die - a character with a large array of resitances should/could be very valuable.

Really like this take on a stamina system.

I can see the point of this idea, but the fact that you are supposed to die in this game and be someone "different" each time you spawn is somthing that irks me because it just does't translate (luckly :) ) because, well this is a game. Here is my suggestion: What if you choose a surname that is permanently linked to your GUID/cd key. Then you can change your first name name as often as you like! And this would also cosmetically address my issue with re-spawning because it implies a "linage" between lives, rather than a reincarnation. I know, its kind of symantics, but every little thing counts when it comes to immersion.

I understand that skills are a contentious subject in DayZ, but at the same time I don't understand the way some people freak out when it's mentioned :P . Here is something interesting to think about. What if there were a skill system (using this term loosly :) ) for disease when it is implemented in DayZ? It would work by surviving various illnesses and your immune system making antibodies. So in a realistic way you're character will "progress" in how well his/her immune system is working, which could be quite a advantage. And then on death, these immunities will be reset! From what I've read I think this is the direction that diseases will take in DayZ. While I understand that players are supposed to bring their own skill set to the game, and "level up" by actually learning different techniques of survival - I find it hard to reconcile this with the fact that it is a game and we can respawn/reincarnate. So I ask, is learning a core game mechanic of DayZ? If it is, I feel there should be some virtual representation of it in the game - just like communicating, shooting, killing, hunting etc. are represented virtually. That doesn't mean I want to see you're bog standard RPG system, but something to make the character feel more alive rather than some blank proxy.

Here is what a "skill" system, like this, does that real world knowledge can not achive - it artifically lets you "forget" things as if you had actually died rather than respawned/reincarnated. Personally I feel there needs to be something to give a more severe feeling of loss when you die, losing loot quickly looses its impact and becomes too impersonal.