Whyherro123

Does nobody actually realize that in-game, the season is Autumn, probably mid-to-later of the season? I am basing this off the fact that you can see your breath during the DAY. This has ENORMOUS implications for pretty much the entire gameplay system. Fresh fruit will be limited to apples (which you can totally pick from an orchard, awesome) Crops would have to be picked SOON, like pumpkins, potatoes, corn, etc. The time for tomatoes and peppers has already passed. Limiting the food supply. Animals will be breeding, and in a matter of weeks, becoming non-worthwhile to hunt, due to degradation from winter conditions. But, the most important thing is TEMPERATURE and WEATHER. As established, it is probably at least the middle of the Autumn season, based on the plant conditions, weather, and physical cues. It is cold enough during the day to see you breath, what temperature do you think it is outside? How cold do you think it gets during the night? Where I am from, the end of October (which is still the beginning of Autumn) it gets COLD AS HELL once the sun goes down. How would you survive running around with no clothes on ( I am looking at YOU, you pants less bastards)? You probably wouldn't. There is no shelterbuilding, no blankets, you can build a fire, yes, but that in and of itself will not keep your naked self alive through a 35 degree night in the open. I just want goddamned hypothermia

Good luck. That place has got to be the literal worst location for a military base EVER.

Considering how a 15-foot fall can EASILY shatter both of your legs if you land wrong, a 12 foot fall should have some serious repercussions....

That is actually illegal in many US states. The firearm must usually be locked up in a postive safe, and/or stored separately from the ammunition. Believe me or not, not EVERY part of the US has an assault rifle-shaped erection. Actually, real assault rifles (AKA the M4A1) are illegal for US citizens to own without a permit, which is a hassle to get in my part of the country.

So, I've been fooling around with the Ashwood Bow, and I must say that I am very interested with the results. However, I have to say that the bow is horribly implemented. Namely, THAT IS NOT HOW YOU MAKE A BOW AT ALL. In real life, you carve a bow down (from almost any wood, so long as the grain is in the right direction, etc) over time, tiller the limbs, and string it very carefully. The wood will be under a lot of tension (both compression and stretching. It can explode if the limb isn't strong enough) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFTPxK2X0NA This guy makes a pretty good bow from unseasoned wood in 6 HOURS, not 6 minutes. However, that bow will kill pretty much any animal on the North American continent, including people. In my opinion, there should be three types and two classes of bows, with varying degrees of ease-of-make, ease-of-use, and "effectiveness" (lethality, flatness of trajectory, etc) Improvised bow: ie, the current bow in-game. Quick and easy to make, but very low damage, and deteriorates rapidly. Needs string and stick Self-bow: Bow with carved limbs. Takes some time and effort to make, good damage, range and accuracy, but can't hold at full draw for long. Needs stick, knife, string, wax, and time Longbow: Bow with longer carved limbs of different dimensions. Takes a lot of time and effort to make, longest range and damage, but can barely draw back. Needs firewood, knife, plane, string, wax and lots and lots of time.There could also be two "classes" of bow. "Seasoned" and "Unseasoned". Unseasoned bows lose condition, so it will eventually break, (and accuracy, damage, range, etc) after every shot, as the stave starts to keep the bend after being strung. Seasoned bows don't lose condition, etc. This is pretty accurate to real life as well. Also, there could be different "types" of arrows as well, to reflect a more "survivor-y" flavor of Day Z. Being able to make your own arrows would be awesome, and "authentic" Burnt point: Just a wooden point, hardened over a fire. Easy to make, but deals little damage. Needs knife. Knapped glass: a glass point knapped from a broken window. Good damage. Razor sharp, but can break. Needs glass, stone, glue Metal point: A point filed from metal. Good damage, low chance of breaking. Needs scrap metal, file, wrench, glue.What do you guys think?

And what was the poundage of your "bow"? The draw weight? What was the accuracy like? I am willing to bet that it seriously deteriorated over time, because you didn't make a bow, you made a bent stick with some string. There IS a difference. Also, I made an arrow, from glass arrowhead, feather fletchings, and a bent shaft to a completed arrow, in about an hour of work. Unbending the shaft took the longest amount of time.

Today, I made a glass arrowhead from the bottom of a beer bottle. It took me about half an hour of real-time, and it is wide and sharp enough to cut a 2 in-wide hole in an animal (or person) Very deadly. The only thing is, I already know how to knap glass. It isn't something that can be picked up in an afternoon.

Yes, I would. Because, in real life, that is what is needed. Not all of us have 30-second-attention spans. I never said that the actual action had to take 6 hours, you literalist. Just make it appreciable, so that authenticity is nodded to.

Currently, the in-game "improvised bow" is literally nothing more than a (thin, mind you) bent stick, tied with string at either end. You would probably get higher velocity with the arrow by throwing it.

pssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh... HAHAHAHAHAHAA

That just made me almost die (choked on food) at a July 4th party, you ass! :D

I prefer Maple-Bacon, thanks : P

Damn straight. If I drop a hammer-blow to the top of your head, you will be dead. If I stab you in the upper torso, you will either; be bleeding out internally, and/or (probably and) have a collapsed lung.

1) The shotgun is bugged, it fires a slug round (fire into a wall, only one bullet hole) that deals buckshot damage (which, really, should still fuck someone up) Don't use it until it is fixed. Here are some shotgun shell sizes to look at. A 12G 00 buck shot is .33 inches across! That is like getting hit with a 9mm. And a 12G slug is about .60 inches across. Getting hit with one of those will END you. http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/UtgaSchleigle/shot%20guns/buckshottablebw50.jpg

Really? You think it is difficult? I spawned into a hardcore server up by the new city, and within the first hour, I had a pretty decent set of clothing, was fully energized and hydrated (with some extra food and water), had two separate firearms (the Blaze, which IMO is the best weapon for a freshspawn, and arguably one of the better weapons in the game at this point, and a Magnum, my favorite gun in-game) alongside 60 rounds for the rifle and 30 rounds for the Magnum. I also had a full first aid kit, fire-building supplies, etc. The game ISN'T difficult. Survival, or at least what any people think of as survival, is not that difficult, not the physical aspects (shelterbuilding, staying dry, firebuilding, water and food procurement, weather, etc). All of those skills can be learned and memorized, until they become internal instincts. No, to someone trained and experienced in survival, survival isn't gear, it isn't skills, it is choice. Choice and fear. A pretty major section of survival classes is made up of stress management, panic deflecting, and calming techniques which are ultimately the real "meat" of the course. All of those skills, like how to build a fire, how to get out of the rain, etc, are being taught so you don't freak out because you don't know what to do. Panic and terror will kill you faster in a survival situation than a lack of shelter and a fire, because they lead to bad choices. I can't tell you how many 15 year old kids (and some adults, last year, when I expanded the program) came into the week full of bluster and bravado, saying how "this was going to be easy!", and by the end of the week had broken down in tears many times, or put up and shut up, and started working together with the rest of the group. At the end-of-week overnight examination, I really didn't care about how good their shelter was, or how fast they got their fire going. I was looking for fear management, calm-under-fire decision making, and good group dynamics. Not too many people passed, just because of that. And all of this where they got three hot meals a day, with hot showers and cots! Right now, Day Z doesn't have any choice, nor all that much fear. Gear is too plentiful, weather effects (hypothermia, with its associated mental and physical degenerative effects, hunger and dehydration, same thing.) nonexistant, atmosphere is bland (although, I wandered through the new city after a rainstorm, when the wind was howling and the sky was cloudy, and I was definitely apprehensive. It was foreboding, and actually rather disturbing, just how quiet a once-bustling city was. Excellent work, devs, that is what I want to feel!) survival aspects have little effect. However, the game is not nearly finished, so there is that! In summation, these are the things I hope to see eventually; 1) Gear should be more rare. This also means the timeline should be pushed forward a couple of months since "the Apocalypse" a) Improvised tools and weapons should be effective at their roles. Arrows, slung stones, and spears should be retrievable. You should be able to snare small game. b) shelterbuilding should be implemented, as protection from the weather. 2) Weather should be a serious concern. It is mid-to-late Autumn in-game. Temperature should reflect that, with appropriate effects for the unprepared.

Firebuilding should really be expanded, if the Devs want to continue to focus on Survival instead of balls-deep PvP. Now, I am glad firebuilding and cooking has finally been implemented, but seriously, the firelay looks like shit. Logs just stacked on top of each other? I would fail a kid in my class if he tried to pull that off. Not too many people realize that there is a "science" to building fires, dependent on the firewood available (types of wood, seasoned vs unseasoned, etc), temperature and weather conditions (high humidity makes it next to impossible to start a fire), the terrain, and what you are building the fire on/for (I prefer to build a stone/sand/wood base and firewall, for example. The reflected heat is always worth the effort) There are firelays designed to minimize the effect of wind ( I seriously just lost a 50-count box of matches in-game because of the wind. Inside of a building :rolleyes: ). There are also alternative ways of starting a fire. IRL, I don't use matches anymore, except for an emergency (in my survival kit). I prefer to use my "firestarting kit" of a firesteel , wood shavings, and birchbark. I own literally 30 or so firesteels, and have them attached to almost every part of my kit, so they are always within arms reach. I also know "primitve" firebuilding methods, and have used them in the past (they suck ass, although the bow drill method isn't too bad) We should also be able to carry a fire with us, in the fashion of.... almost every "primitve" culture ever. Rebuilding a fire SUCKS, so my Troop uses a #10 can to hold smouldering coals until we make camp again. Takes us 5 minutes to build a fire, instead of 20. #efficiency

Thank you, Mr. Alpher Police Officer sir. I'll keep my observations, suggestions, and real-life experiences to myself next time. Didn't mean to bother you! -snicker-

SNARES?!?!?!?!?! SQUEEEEEEE ....... -ahem- excuse me. I am looking forward to true bushcraft being possible.

Well, to be entirely honest, some of the people I have been talking to estimate that if a Total Societal Collapse (TSC) event were to happen, based on current levels of industrialization, urbanization, globalization, so on and so forth, the approximate tech level of the US would fall back to the 17th-18th century, as people starve to death, factories and shipping facilities(that bring in "modern" goods) shut down, and supply lines stop flowing. Everything would become more regional, with appropriate materials available. Granted, that is merely an estimate, and a worst-case scenario one at that. But, isn't that what we are dealing with in-game? There are no factories producing smokeless powder, primers, cases, canned food, antibiotics, etc. It will run out eventually. (and hopefully, for that matter.)

It is kind of funny, the people who take long-term survival seriously, not the "survivalists" we hear about on TV and hear horror stories about with militias and all that, actually focus rather little on modern firearms and the stocking up of modern ammuntion. Most of the people I've talked to over the Interwebz are more involved with "archaic" firearms, like flintlock and caplock muskets and rifles, and primitive weapons like spears, bows, and javelins. They are more sustainable in the long run, and only really require a blacksmith shop to make, something that (along with the related skills) would make you an INDISPENSABLE member of post-TSC society.

Oh no, I agree. You cannot compare a firearm to a bow and arrow. However, I hope it will eventually come to a point where ammunition for firearms will become rarer, and therefore primitive weapons will have their time to shine. Early self-defense, hunting, ambushes, etc. What will you use to hunt that deer; one of your precious bullets or an arrow that can be picked up and reused? I also kind of want to ambush some big-bad AKM-wielding baddie with a bow. Yes, in a straight-up-in-your-face standoff, the AKM will win every time, hands down with room to spare. However, if I get the drop on you, and put an arrow through your chest, you should feel bad. And I will gloat until the heat-death of the universe.

What is funny is just how bad a little point like that would fuck you up.

Yes, practice. Time and effort that would be much better worth spending on some worthwhile skill, like archery, firearms, hell, even firebuilding, with the state I've seen some supposed "wilderness trained" Scout leaders. And, 20 yards? 20 yards is goddamned 60 feet! Most of the people I've seen (granted, Boy Scouts = young, innattentive hyperactive boys, but still) can't consistently get an arrow cluster on target on a 10 yard range, without a week of practice! Either you are pulling 60 feet out of your ass, or your dad needs to join the Delta Force. Seriously. There is a reason throwing knives have, aren't, and never will be a viable weapon; literally everything else is either easier to use, more dangerous, more accurate, or a combination of all three.

Damn straight. Hell, I hope for bows that can be made out of most types of wood. I myself have used birch, oak (a pain in the ass, I tell you, but the raw stave I found was BEAUTIFUL, and it could put an aluminum arrow through a plate of sheet steel at 30 paces) and cedar as bowstaves, with (varied) success.

In reality, from what the game model is ( a bent stick with some string), the improvised bow would: 1) Not propel an arrow with any appreciable distance, speed, accuracy, or power 2) degrade extremely fast (unseasoned wood) In summation, the improvised bow in-game would be next to useless. IRL, you CAN make a bow out in the field, and depending on your experience and surroundings, pretty easily too. It just takes time. Time and effort. To shape the limbs and make sure they bend evenly. To make sure the bow has the right draw length for you (VERY IMPORTANT). To season the wood, so it keeps the right "shape" instead of keeping a bend after being strung (which will happen with green wood) To make arrows (which in and of themselves can take a serious amount of time), and practice with the bow until you become comfortable. Don't get me wrong, properly-made bows can be excellent survival tools and weapons, even compared to firearms, but they require some serious work put into them. I've made several bows before, and they all worked extremely well (took small game, seabirds no problem, and I would expect them to take large game as well, with their draw weight). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFTPxK2X0NA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPXoGXo-hE8 Here are some links to take a look at, and from what he saw, he didn't season the wood. A well-seasoned and greased bowstave would be even better.