Where these views are coming from: I'm perfectly aware this is an Early Access game, aka and incomplete game in the midst of development. I'm a n00b. I didn't play the mod to Arma III. I don't really keep track of the news about this game or anything. So I'm probably pointing out stuff that's been addressed. I apologize for that. And again, I'm not bashing the game but just sharing thoughts. I know it's early access. I'm a 20s hardcore gamer who's actually not had the time due to my career to be a hardcore gamer anymore. So my perspective has changed and I'm increasingly playing less games due to a lack of time and playing more casual. Anyways, I'm on vacation so I've had some rare time to spend playing this game. I played solo and apparently that is not really how to play. My experience has been this so far: My first guy was my learning character. The controls are at times... weird? I don't know if that comes from Arma. For example I have no idea why you have a separate button for stand instead of just having pressing crouch or prone make you stand if you're already in one of those positions. They seem like mostly average FPS controls but oddly placed (fixable via custom buttons) or weirdly functional like the standing thing (not fixable when I tried to assign them the same thing). Okay, so I expected a higher learning curve. So I wasn't really upset about that though maybe there could be a better way to teach us n00bs than me just going into the control options to see what all the buttons do. The UI was a bit confusing at first but I eventually got used to it. Now to the main game... -Equipping items seems sluggish or something. I'll often have to spam the buttons to simply pull out a baseball bat or whatever. -Movement is reaaally slidey. I swear everyone is iceskating just a bit. My first guy actually died from this. I barely pressed the forward button to get a better look while on a roof, and sliiide. Maybe it's realistic, maybe it's unintended, I don't know. It just doesn't feel good and I feel like my character is drunk or something. I cannot help comparing it to FPS games where movement is pretty easy. Not having played Arma III I have no idea if this is something that's purposefully built in. -I'm always thirsty and hungry. 99% of this game seems to be me looking for water. The day/night cycle is real time right? So why do I have to eat a month's worth of food in a day? I think making this upkeep more "realistic" at pace (maybe making food rarer or something in the process) would shift some of the focus. I feel like most of the time I'm playing a scavenger hunt for food and drink. Yeah, that's survival, but at this high pace? I'm some kind of food and drink monster. -At the same time I've never really been in danger of dying of thirst or hunger. Heck, I'm not sure what would happen if I ignored those. Would I just fall over and die? Would I get negative stat changes? I feel like I should know :P. Though I'm stuck searching for this stuff all the time I've never failed to find it (and have a surplus of food). -Can I... build stuff? I really have no idea. I can can't I? I really don't know. I've got these tools and stuff. I've heard something about a safe. I have no idea what to do here besides perhaps looking up a guide. -My melee attacks seem sloppy? I'm not sure how to describe them. I'm not 100% sure when they hit or miss. I think if the dot isn't touching the things it misses, which seems a bit odd for like a baseballbat which has a large attack arc. -Zombies, are they a threat? Okay my zombie experience is this: I played for several hours and found ONE zombie in all that time. I have no idea why I ran into so few. I killed him. On my second character (after slipping off that roof) I got several zombies after me, jumped into a building then was attacked by zombies clipping through the walls. I died (okay, early access this is okay for now lol). By my third character I was really getting the hang of everything. At this point I just strut into a town, aggro all the zombies and kill them with a bat or shovel or something. They have very predictable attack patterns. I had to bandage once and killed a whole town of them. Easy to dodge, easy to kill. At this point I'm more scared of humans. Also, they aggro annoyingly. I almost never see them first. I have decent eyes. Zombies though apparently have eagle eyes. I want more opportunity to sneak and stuff. Usually though I'll hear a close growl and they'll already be on me or rushing towards me. Also are there any in buildings? -Humans. Do they exist? lol I've played for maybe 10 hours now (yeah not a lot). I go on high population servers. I've ran into a person TWICE now. One was all lagged and rubberbanding. Then they fell over and died. Another time I simply heard someone shooting at me (I think) which made me run and dive into a bush. I never saw them. I've literally on full severs never run into anyone else. Maybe I'm unlucky. -Where the fudge am I? Maybe if we could find a map item that would be cool. Do compasses exist? Anything besides a website map which I'm using. -Time investment and time between happenings. Okay, again I used to be a hardcore gamer. Due to my career and stuff I'll find it hard to upkeep anything. I think the game is shaping up but there's a bit too much time doing stuff that's more boring like drinking your 100 bottles of water a day and scavenger hunting, as opposed to the things I THINK are more exciting (zombies actually being a threat and hording, surviving through combat, making a safehouse if even possible, etc). When my job starts back up again I'm not sure I'd be willing to spend that much time on this game when it's 99% looking for water. But you don't have to cater to me of course. I'm just talking about it from my point of view. I might not be your target consumer anymore :P being increasingly casual. I'll be sure to check back in from time to time if I stop playing. Maybe I need some people to play with...
