11tw

I am saying that even having one working car on a server could spoil it if it is in the wrong hands. Have you played the Last of Us? There is a sizable segment of the game where you run away from a bunch of survivor-murdering bandits who have a machine gun turreted armored tank. That is the scenario I am worried about, a guy driving a truck around with a few guys in the back with snipers and shotguns, picking off zombies and survivors with little effort. I appreciate that gathering the supplies necessary to do this would be astoundingly difficult, but the people with the biggest motivation to do so are the people who want this game to be COD, and they are the people who kill on sight. People who are happy to just be scavengers and enjoy the task of pure survival may be simply wiped out on certain servers if vehicles aren't implemented properly. All I want to do is make sure that vehicles don't become a 'gamebreaker', which they could if the developers rushed them.

Well then, consolidate vanilla servers into smaller numbers of highly populated servers. If their are fifty vanilla servers with ten people in them each, get rid of half of them to force people into one world map.

Tooth problems would only really become a proper issue after a few weeks, maybe even months if you are lucky. Not many people survive that long in Day Z, so I can't see it being a realistic problem. For a hardcore server maybe it would be a nice finishing touch, along with vitamin deficiency. Not eating any fruit? Scurvy, night blindness and weakened immune system!

Cool, sorry, a list of things that are definitely going to be implemented needs to be posted so as to prevent people like me from posting things which have already been chosen to be added later ... if it has then could you give me a link please? Also, forgot to mention that zombies clawing at you would probably infect the wound in the first place.

I don't mind though! If they want to have servers where there are guns and cars and bandits and bombs and helicopters etc. then they can have them. As long as there are special servers which are pure survival with realistic problem solving then I couldn't care less. The game, in order to be successful, has to appeal to a variety of gamers. If people buy the game (and therefore fund the part I like) and go around shooting each other on the 'DEATHMATCH, ALL THE LADS!!! server' then I don't mind. Just keep to your own servers please!

That is a different thing entirely, as one drop loot would make game play literally impossible. However not including fresh gasoline and working cars won't spoil the game; in my opinion it will save it. If there are too many powerful guns and too many vehicles the game effectively becomes 'Grand Theft Auto: Online'. If I wanted to shoot people I would play COD, and if I wanted vehicles I would play Gran Turismo. What I want are axes, bicycles, and zombies.

Those experiments are always fun, but do you know how fuel inefficient that would be? The huge amount of impurities would DESTROY the engine very quickly, rusting the interior components. And cars from before the 60's were not known for their fuel efficiency to start with, so one rotting pig carcass worth of fat wouldn't get you very far.

Yes, it would evaporate and the gas would fill the gaps in the container at high pressure. The moment a gap appeared, let's say when someone opened up the car to siphon some gas, the evaporated gas would escape and leave the fuel useless.

Okay, so where do we draw the line? You have chosen an arbitrary point at which to decide realism isn't important, because you are worried that realism will be a nuisance. That is the point of Day Z, not easy gameplay which ignores real life problems. Humans can't eat off food, and cars can't eat off gas. You either go for complete realism (within the realm of a zombie world, as I am willing to suspend my disbelief on that), or you can go for fun and easy. And if you want fun and easy, there are thousands of games in existence like that.

Yes, but that fuel wouldn't be volatile enough to use after a few months. Even in a sealed container, you would open it and the gas would immediately escape because of chemistry stuff. Whether the fuel is a private supply or not is irrelevant.

To be honest, my ulterior motive for 'no cars' is that I am worried about fresh spawns becoming even more outmatched. I would rather face one dick with a shotgun than a dick with a shotgun and a truckload of friends. The existence of vehicles would allow bandits to work together to dominate servers, and they would cruise along the coastline, hunting bambies for fun! Why add an even greater power imbalance to the game if it isn't even realistic!

I doubt I really understand the proposal, but you seem to know what you are talking about- have some beans!

Zombie movies and games have inspired a lot of different types of zombie, each with its own charms. The original 'shambler' zombie is a decaying and slow zombie. It is determined however, and will track its prey in hordes. It works best when overwhelming survivors, and will happily lay siege to buildings. However they are easily outsmarted due to a loss of all but the brain stem function. These are good for a game because the large numbers inspire interesting tactics. Firing a gun is dangerous when you risk attracting the attention of a horde of 20 zombies. The more modern 'infected' are a balance between 'shamblers' and 'creatures'. Infected are like humans, but with keen senses and vicious strength. They will relentlessly pursue their victims, and retain a small amount of complex cognitive ability. These zombies won't be fooled by basic avoidance tactics. At the opposite end of the spectrum to the 'shamblers' are 'creatures'. These are for zombie movies like 28 days and WWZ. They are faster and stronger than humans, and have the cunning hunting instincts of an animal. They can leap and dodge, and a single one poses a serious threat. However, they are less fearless than their reanimated cousins. They will not walk blindly towards the most dangerous game, and will happily settle for weaker prey. This makes them harder to trick, but easier to deter. As far as HP goes; - Shamblers would be taken down by one blow to the head from a splitting axe - Infected would need a bit more than that, as they would usually be encountered individually. I would suggest five direct body hits from a splitting axe - Creatures need to pose a serious threat, so I would suggest that they need to take a lot of damage. However their weakness could be bleeding damage, as they are more 'vital' than other zombies, so loss of blood would kill them. Now they all have their pros and cons, and because of server limitations I am sure that many will disregard this as being too ambitious, but I propose that the game have each of these types of zombies in some capacity. The majority of zombies (70%) can be 'shamblers', zombies who have been infected for weeks and have begun to decay due to a lack of food. This will help reinforce the idea of being outnumbered. This is good, because a feeling of helplessness encourages cooperation, and if faced with swarms of weak zombies players will be more likely to team up. A minority of zombies (25%), those who have been recently infected, will be 'infected', and will occupy building interiors. A rare portion (5% or maybe less) will be 'creatures', zombies who were infected weeks ago but have killed survivors and strengthened themselves. These will just be a case of run or die for those using melee weapons. A variety of different situations in a game forces the player to adapt, and thereby creates a more immersive, choice-driven environment. I would argue that a variety of enemy types forces creativity and makes each approach valid in different situations. For example, the gun-nut may do well against infected, but when faced with 20 shamblers has little choice but to run

I think I have a fix for zombie swarms. The server would be slowed down by the huge numbers, unless they only appeared when players came within a certain distance of them. Say no one is in a city on a server. Then there would be no zombies there (this is realistic, they would go towards food), but a city with 10 or so players would have a few swarms of 20 zombies wandering the streets.

Okay, what about zombies bleeding? How 'alive' do we want them to be? I think for the sake of realism they should have all the same weaknesses as humans.

So I quit, wait a few hours, come back and all of the food on the shelf in front of me has respawned. This seems weird, and is a huge break from realism for me. Instead I suggest that the game's lore be changed. The map is simply a quarantine zone, and in the zone survivors are being supplied with equipment and food by the government. Every time a server resets, the government drops parachute boxes with food, iodine tabs, bandages etc. However, because of other players this food is hard to get to, so other sources (like the soon to be introduced foraging and hunting) of food have to be used. Weapons and ordinary items would remain the same, so the respawn for those would have to stay the way it is. As far as I can see, this is the only way to make the game realistic without making it impossible.

Buildings would still contain odd pieces of equipment, provide shelter, and act as hiding places. They would still act as vantage points for sharpshooters and contain some loot, such as axes, guns and general supplies such as maps, water bottles and backpacks.

I don't think that a campaign is what people are looking for when they get Day Z... however I am a great believer in adding optional content to please niche markets, as long as it doesn't interfere with the majority of players. For example I would be happy to allow unrealistic weapons on to certain servers, just as long as my server is for grown ups who don't need death rays.

Well argued sir, I am defeated!

I would say that the reason the government wouldn't 'drop in' to save everyone would have something to do with fear of infection: survivors in the quarantine zone are the 1% who are immune, whereas soldiers dropped in would quickly become zombies. Therefore the only solution is to try and keep the survivors alive by dropping emergency food, like in Japan after the nukes were dropped.

Naturally this would only be introduced once other things have been fixed though, because otherwise this won't work due to a lack of players on certain servers and a surplus of bandits on other ones.

So my avatar, upon spawning knows a lot of stuff. She can use an IV, a defibrillator and fire any gun she picks up. She is in incredible shape, and is an expert on ammo and general equipment. When she picks up a rifle, she knows its background, caliber and make immediately. For the 'realistic' zombie survival game I find this really jarring. I know for a fact that picking up a rifle I wouldn't have a clue about its background. Suggest that certain info, such as specific knowledge of firearms and medicine, should be learnt from books. Such books could be definite spawns at special locations, so as to prevent them from being too rare. For example, a copy of Grey's Anatomy found on a shelf in a hospital could teach you how to use an IV and the like. A copy of some Guide to Russian Weaponry and Munitions (sorry, just made that up) could be found in military bases and give info on calibers and such. That way, it feels like more of an immersive experience. Keen to hear community response to idea, especially ideas to improve or add to the concept. 11tw

I have to agree with this, exactly what I was thinking.

I thought there might be some backlash to the sneak attacks on other players idea, but to be honest it makes sense. This will make it more realistic, and allow weaker people to kill people who have more equipment than them. This way recent spawns will stand more of a chance.

No, it won't be a case of whether you know how to set up an IV, your avatar has to know how to do it. Otherwise people would look stuff up.