finnpalm

I would like to suggest that you add the option to use the mouse for steering instead of keyboard. In effect this option will allow for much better accuracy when driving. What I mean here is mimicking the option for mouse based steering that can be found for example in Eurotruck Simulator 2 where you can turn the steering wheel by sliding the mouse left and right.

While I like some parts of your idea I have to say that I think car alarms should be left out. One reason being older vehicles seldom have alarms, and the other reason is that there are plenty of other ways to make it really really hard to get the car anyway. Consider for example the following scenario: You find a car, but x number of tires are flat, the battery is dead, and sparkplugs need changing. Also there is no fuel. Since you're not carrying more than one tire at a time, nor more than one battery at a time, and maybe two cans of fuel, if you're alone this means you will have to travel back and forth to the car no less than 2+x times as a bare minimum. So, now add to this the time it would take you to find the components. Fuel needs a container to be carried in, but say you settle for the one can of fuel so that's one run to and from a fuel source with a jerry can. Perhaps you can use water bottles and canteens or maybe even a cooking pot to carry the fuel, but the water bottles will not be good for water afterwards and the cooking pot will take up both your hands while you carry it, and a mechanic can be added to make you spill a little fuel if using the cooking pot so that you only get a fraction of the fuel to the car. Now find a working battery, carry that heavy bastard to the car, then find a tire and carry that to the car. Then find sparkplugs. What if those are rare? Either way, say you undertake this whole mission to fix the car. What says that someone else already carrying the last missing component doesn't get there and repair it before you? Or simply spot you traveling back and from the car all those times and decide to ambush you? Alright, assume you manage to fix the car at the bare minimum. You now have a weak battery, and a 10% full tank of fuel. So, you get onto the hotwiring (and I'd say skip the hotwire kit. It's not that hard to hotwire older car models. Newer ones are a different matter), and for that you need some tool to break open part of the dashboard, some tool to cut the wires, and then duct tape to insulate the wires so they don't blow a fuse from touching some other wire connections behind the dashboard. This would take a couple of minutes. So, once you're done with that if someone hasn't seen you already (zombie or person) you're lucky. Now comes the exciting part. Have you ever considered how loud the starting engine on an older car model is? Remember that weak battery you put in? It's gonna take a couple of tries to get the engine started. During that time you will be making a lot of noise. If you still manage to survive all this without getting killed you can drive off. I'd say there's no need for car alarms. Also, all of the above makes this hard to do on your own, so it should definitely be a group effort. In closing, I'd like to add the suggestion that they put something similar to this into the game (rare item of course): It works such that the driving gas in the can fills the tire, but it also sprays a mix of solvent and sealant into the tire, so that when the tire spins it coats the inside. This is no permanent fix however. It only allows you to drive a short distance, say to a repair shop. Or in this case, out of the hot zone and into a garage to hide or something like that. :)

EDIT: Deleted. Sorry, just had to vent.

Actually the idea with modern firing stances taught by the military is that they are intuitive and natural. They're based on a human's natural reactions when being presented with a threat. So in my opinion there's no need to "civilize" them.

Whatever cooks your noodle.

They can be called zombies, since zombies are by no means only what Romero depicted in his movies. For a "purist" however, the definition of "zombie" might be Romero-style creatures alone, which is of course a way to view it. What I meant was that if you have a hard time viewing the infected in DayZ as zombies per your personal definition it might help to think of them as something else. :) As far as backstory goes, Bohemia has said that DayZ stands for "Day Zero", and the "zombies" are actually living humans infected with a rage virus, much like in the movie 28 days later. Personally I try to keep a more loose view of what zombies are and can be, even though I admit that whenever a movie maker or writer depicts them in an unconventional way it does take me some time to get used to it. Personally I prefer when the audience is given a reason for the zombies existing (virus, magic, judgement day or whatever) rather than when they just go "ta-dah zombies.. enjoy".

While I respect your opinion, it's not really a modernization. If you read a bit of history about the concept of walking dead, or risen dead there has never been any depiction that can be said to be the "original zombie". Through history, in folk lore and mythology around the world the concept of living dead creatures has popped up. It's one of those ideas that people come up with without having necessarily heard from somewhere else. The only reason why the slow, shambling dead became the "norm" is because Romero happened to make movies that became popular. That said, it's obviously ok to prefer the slow version. If it eases your mind the "zombies" in DayZ aren't dead. They're living humans infected with a virus. And the Z in DayZ stands for "zero" rather than "zombie". As far as I'm concerned the reason people keep calling them zombies is that there is really no clear definition of what a zombie is or is like. And it's a pop-culture term that people recognize.

Wait what? Did you pshop that or is that actually in there? D:

So how about something less powerful than a .357 magnum capable revolver? If it's variation you want there are plenty of less powerful weapons to put in the game. Arguing that deagles and whatnot should be in because variation doesn't really add up in my opinion. And yes, the Colt Python is a pretty damn powerful handgun. It just happens to not need a magazine as well.

You wait 'til it cools of enough to either "drink" it or eat with your fingers. Or whittle a "spoon" from a stick. It's really not that hard. ;)

I really don't get why people keep asking for larger caliber handguns in the game. There's a fucking Colt Python in already! Should be enough for anyone tbh.

So you can upgrade the courier bag. That's what I was asking. xD

No, I didn't understand your earlier post. I thought you were saying that you usually made a courier backpack, and then later you'd find sticks, so I thought since you mentioned that you'd find sticks after making the courier backpack that it had some relevans to already having the courier bag. Not just "Hey I have a bag, and now I have some sticks as well". ;)

I agree that this polling should continue, but unfortunately the amount of votes on this poll doesn't make for a foundation for reliable statistics.

Then I don't understand your post.

So you can pick them apart again and craft splints now? Holy heck. That was much needed. Great to hear. Thanks for info. I'm getting back into the game again after a couple months absence. :)

Hey, can you "add" sticks to a courier bag to make the survivor backpack, or do you have to assemble all the parts at the same time?

Ok, so you disagree with me then? In my opinion realistic and authentic are both relative things. They in turn depend on the objectiveness of the term "playable".

What constitutes playable is subjective. Thus the whole idea of authenticity and realism are equally relative. Even in the zombie department they're striving for realism, or rather believability, by deciding to make them infected humans rather than risen dead. Realism isn't a reason, in and of itself, why the developers should do X. If you want to frame it as a reason, however, you're going to have to actually find ways in which "realism" tangibly benefits gameplay (which isn't that hard a case to make). Ok, case: More realism will make the game more challenging and difficult. And that's a good thing.

Hey man. I suggest you read the dev blog. That way you'd have known the answers to your questions. This time it's free: Pathfinding is worked on and some progress have been made. Vehicles is a no-go until physics is in.

Well, I personally enjoy the level of realism in the game. I hope they strive to make the game even more realistic. And inb4 "lolr zombies", they even decided to make them humans infected with a virus rather than risen dead. Even in the improbable they strive for realism. I'm fully aware that you can't make a game 100% realistic. That's my main gripe with games to be honest. But when balancing the realistic against the playable I think there is a very wide spectra of what constitutes "balance", and that is completely down to opinion. What I consider playable might seem idiotic to you. Who is right?

Oh, it's already on exp? Neat-o. I read it in some dev blog I think. I guess people don't bother to keep updated. Just like the tons of people who complain about the infected glitching through walls, even though Dean stated a long time ago that they were working on a solution, and recently even showed some progress on what they've been working on.

Like I wrote in a different thread, in my opinion: If there are plenty of different guns in the game, just make sure the lower powered ones to some extent share ammo type, and make sure the higher powered guns have very different calibers. I think that's a good solution.

Why does it always have to be black and white with you guys? Why can't there be a middle road? There needs to be some sort of limitation on shooting in the game. So either fewer different weapons that are hard to find, but ammo that will pretty much always fit, or plenty of different weapons that are fairly easy to find but with different types of ammo. Otherwise it will be even more of a shoot fest than it is now. However, this is a sliding scale in my opinion. You can adjust the amount of different guns you'd like in the game and as they increase you can introduce more calibers or if the amount of different guns decrease you can have more "universal" ammo. If there will be plenty of different guns in the game, make sure there are several low to medium powered guns (shotguns, hunting rifles, old ww rifles, pistols and revolvers) of which some share ammo type. And in the same way make sure the higher powered gun models (assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles) use different types of ammo. I think that would be the best formula to follow. Just decide on the value of X. It's just a matter of deciding on how many different guns we want in the game and then decide on the ammo from there.

If I'm not mistaken the ability to cut sticks from trees will be introduced in a future update.