DocWolf

Well, in a previous thread I reported that some kind of audio bug caused me to hear random "twing!" in forests. In at least one server, that wasn't a bug. It's not a "terryfing" encounter, just a weird/creepy one. Back in experimental 0.50, before it was ported to stable, I was travelling from Dolina to Staroye in the woods. I was just arrived at the edge of the forest, before the northern field of Staroye...I was sorting my backpack near a deer feeding shack when I heard the first TWING! I didn't pay attention - I was sure it was some kind of audio bug like all those phantom noises you experience sometimes (eating or drinking sound, cut off infected snarl etc). At the second one, I was puzzled. With the third in close succession I ran crouched behind a bush, trying to scout the surroundings. Someone on voice chat said, with a genuinely creepy tone: "Ah, now you're paying attention" Dafuq, I thought. I was able to see someone with good camo not too distant, crouching. I had only a sledgehammer...no firearms yet. The guy was sporting a bow in his hands, and probably a rifle on his shoulder, but I wasn't sure. My character was recently spawned, only moderately geared, and I got sloppy with a false sense of security. I didn't even scanned the surroundings before opening my inventory. "Hey. Did you just shoot an arrow at me?" No answer. "Ok, I don't want any trouble. I'm going to Staroye, no need to use weapons" No answer. I was starting to become uncomfortable. "Hey, I'm waiting a friend here. Maybe you should go" I bluffed (badly) "Run piggy. Run" he said, with the same monotone and creepy tone he used before. I ran towards Staroye zigzagging in the fields, while he was laughing and the occasional arrow TWING'ed past my character's ears. I don't know why he didn't kill me (experimental, maybe, almost everyone is merciful over there) or why he didn't handcuff/burlap sack me as per standard procedure...but it was a very entertaining (even if creepy) moment. I've met a genuine psycho and survived...those n00bs force-feeding stuff to players should start acting more pro and actually start messing with people's heads.

Well, even if the pandemic ran its course just one week before our first log in...there should be something that suggest collapse of society. At the moment Chernarus look a lot like Pripyat - a place hastily evacuated and abandoned. But we're not speaking of a city here, playable Chernarus is supposed to be a country...or at least a significative slice of the in-universe country of Chernarus. You can't evaquate such areas cleanly and quickly. I'm fine with almost empty houses (most things would be looted anyway), but we should have at least some visual clue of what happened. Some examples: there's a Forward Operating Base near Myshkino, and military vehicles on civilian airfields. Those things are not deployed during peacetime, so there was time to declare a state of emergency. Why we don't see police cars blocking (some) streets, miltiary and police (abandoned) checkpoints, posters and billboards speaking (in cyrillic) of the emergency, the plague and such?there's a beached, wrecked cargo ship between two moderately urbanized areas. Unless Rify was beached at the very end of the emergency or after society collapse, there should be something that shows Chernarus emergency services responded to such a disaster. Maybe (ruined) ambulances abandoned on the road, some (empty) tents on the beach, even a couple of (ruined) tv vans aroundeven if there was a very short struggle against the pandemic and the proverbial crap hit the fan in just a few days, even if there wasn't any coordinated answer to the plague both nationally or internationally...where are all the cars fleeing urban areas? Where are all car wrecks? Where are the buses abandoned at the side of the road (hopefully with an ominous, bloody handprint somewhere)? Why there is not at least one (non accessible) passenger train somewhere, with cracked glasses and pools of dried blood outside?there are western military helicopters and military vehicles around Chernarus, even UN blue helmets and berets. This could suggest an international effort to control the pandemic (or maybe not). Where are NATO/UN mobile headquarters, where are western armed forces bases? Even if the visuals of this game is amazing, leaving Chernarus in the current state is such a waste of potential. Even small additions, like graffiti on the walls commemorating/calling for loved ones, makeshift cardboards/signs giving direction to stranded relatives or improvised memorials like the 28 Days Later I've posted here could help A LOT to set the right tone of the environment.

I know that probably The Walking Dead is DayZ version of Godwin's Law...but honestly, look at the effort the director(s) put in building a semi-believable environment for their post-apocalyptic, post-pandemic world. Graffiti and writings on the walls for missing loved ones ("Brian Heriot we're at home meet us don't go home we love you Brian")Assorted junk, plastic bags and newspapers on the streetsDirty cars, leaves on the pavement, weather-damaged posters/billboardsMakeshift memorials from the very beginning of the pandemicAbandoned police and military check points, ruined emergency services' relief centersMakeshift billboards giving directions for loved ones ("Erin, we tried Stone Mountain")Buildings or areas "reinforced" or walled off by the authorities during pandemicBlood and dirt inside the buildingsRows and rows of cars gridlocked bumper to bumper trying to flee citiesCar crashes involving several vehicles Generally speaking the environment easily show that society collapsed, and collapsed bad. Quarantine and evacuations were implemented and failed. People were fleeing without being able to reunite with their friends or families. There were a lot of violent actions, either by the government or the citizens (or both) trying to keep the infection problem at bay...you know this even if the show don't tell you so because you can see the consequences of this events. Everything is run-down, dilapidated, and convey a distinct sense of depression (except for lawns and gardens, for some reason they're always cured even after a year of post-apocalyptic abandonement). In DayZ the map, gameplay-wise, is really fine as it is. Ok, adding some more cities or towns could be interesting - no need to go postal on that. There's plenty of wilderness around Chernarus. But one of the top priorities for the map team should be starting to work on a proper aesthetic of the apocalypse. They should start adding progressively more stuff that give players the feeling of being in a dead world. Chernarus collapsed months (a year?) ago, and there should be some kind of visual remind of that tragedy. At the moment walking in Chernarus is a beautiful experience (seriously beautiful, considering we're in alpha stage), but everything seems a simple movie prop. You walk in Novo and it seems you're walking in the hollywood prop of an abandoned east-european town; you run down the coast and it seems you're in a tv set depicting a cold war region. Everything is too clean, too empty to actually look as the leftovers of an apocalypse.

The issue was solved until the penultimate iteration of EXPERIMENTAL 0.50...well, sort of. Almost everything was damaged or badly damaged, then. In the last iteration of EXP 0.50 and now on STABLE 0.50 it popped up again. Especially in last EXP 0.50 everything was pristine, even things that should have been at least worn (like dove jackets soaked in water).

Honestly, in the middle of all this whining there are very few valid points. * More points of interest. How true! A big amusement park near the big southern cities could be really interesting. Kid playgrounds and/or small public parks around mid-sized towns could be a good idea too; bus/truck deposits should be somewhere. Something less "scenic" but more "atmospheric" could be wrecks and traffic jams on major roads (either fleeing certain towns or trying to enter), areas where the military tried to drive back refugees or contain infection (bombed out buildings, checkpoints, burned out civilian and military vehicles). Much more mass graves around the map, with construction equipment around; much more destruction and car wrecks in towns and cities; abandoned (and semi-destroyed) cars in the middle of nowhere with messages for friends/families pinned on them. Makeshift memorials in big towns dating the start of the infection, with people pinning prayers or "have you seen him?" leaflets on walls. Much, much, much more blood and destruction in urbanized areas. * Too few building models. That's right - even if the model count is quite high, the various towns does not seem authenitc enough. Try changing external textures of already existing buildings: two stories green house could be coloured in many ways, with different textures like chipped paint, bullet-riddled walls, blood or burned stains, faded paint, new paint... * Irrealistic internal layout of buildings. Hell, let's be honest...current buildings, with very few exceptions, are absolutely irrealistic. Revise the internal layout of the most outrageous buildings out there and we'll call it a day and stop complaining about that...not every one of them, just the weirdest/most bugged ones. A free suggestion: if you really want to place a "cosmetic" door (as in, something that cannot be opened and is there just for show) at least change the skin...I don't know, cover it with nailed boards, show signs of welding if it's metallic, put chains/big locks on them. It helps immersion. On a more general note: a couple more cities/towns is not Armageddon. But please, before adding new urban areas, start working on improving what you already have on the map. And for the love of God, start working also on the atmosphere. We need to see and feel there was a total breakout of society in Chernarus. Nowadays the map seems a big, abandoned movie set.

I was under the impression Chernarus was an ex-USSR country. Racoons are north-american mammals, even if small populations could be find in continental and eastern europe (introduced by accident or by design). Before introducing something so american-centric, why not working on eurasian wolves and/or brown bears? Players encroaching/travelling in the wilderness should have to fear something, too. Urbanized areas have infected NPCs and players: wild areas should have their own predators, too.

Well, he said he stopped playing before summer...I suppose it's new stuff for him.

New military bases scattered in the west and south-west of the map. The most interesting one (personal opinion, of course) is the biggest one, between Pavlovo and Kamenka. Following the road between those two towns you'll see a crossroad/fork shortly after leaving the southern outskirts of Pavlovo...take this new road and after a few minutes you'll find a walled compound in the woods. That's Pavlovo Military Base...take care, last time I travelled there (patch 0.49) it was Balota Mk II: lots of server hoppers, everyone is a legitimate target and such. Another interesting one is "tent city" west of Myshkino. If you follow the road (don't, cut through the woods west of the town) you only have to leave the northern outskirts of Myshkino and after a few minutes you'll find a crossroad/fork: take the western road and following it you'll end in an enormous clearing in the woods where you'll find a FOB with lots of military tents, wrecked vehicles and sentry post. That's Myshkino Forward Operative Base (previously at Balota Airfield, now relocated there). North of Severograd there's a new military base...never visited it in person, AFAIK you shouldn't use a ladder that o below ground (there's a bunker of some sort) because it's bugged and kills you. Or, at least, that happened to someone in experimental...don't know if it's really a bug or if he was simply unlucky.

There are people complaining of a (gameplay-wise) balanced and enjoyable patch. A stable one, too...not too many crashes both server and client side. Learning the hard way there are worse things could be helpful. Or..I was just cracking a joke. Ah, this forum. So refreshing in its "DayZ is serious business" attitude.

Hello, and welcome back. Much has changed in the previous months. For example, what you've listed over there? It's not "basic" equipment...those are necessary items, and in some of the past experimental versions of 0.50 were somehow difficult to obtain. Rain and wind now influence your character's health, a good backpack is necessary to store items and avoid their degradation, food and drinks are even more necessary considering the new smaller size of your character' stomach and his quicker calories/water consumption. It was nerfed a long time ago - and thank God it was. Even now too many people stay on the coastal areas, having a military base so close to the eastern coast was detrimental to proper player dispersion. Last iteration of experimental 0.50 and current stable 0.50 are full of pristine items somehow - previously most of the items were damaged or badly damaged. "Birthday" barns, police or fire stations sometimes happens: it seems those areas sometimes give birth to stacks upon stacks of loot for no reason at all. It's not basic equipment. You can find or craft better items...it's just one of the many items used by the developers to cater to a particular section of the playerbase. There are some people who NEED military clothes, so they put them in. Other people want immersion, so they try to build immersion. Others want PvP, so they increase the number of firearms...and so on. On a more general note: you have to revise your priorities. Military stuff is no longer considered "basic" loot. It's something you need time (helicopter hunting) or balls (braving military installations a.k.a. killzones) or even both to acquire. I don't bother with the airfields and the new southwestern military bases anymore, for example. No need to, there is ton of other stuff just as good as its military equivalent. Gha. Server hopping for weapons? Don't mention it on the public forums. Body temperature management is fine, no need to tweak it...if you run you build up heath and if you sprint you do the same but faster. Clothes influence heavily the cold/hot status - choose the right ones and keep at least a rain jacket in the backpack. This iteration of 0.50 seems to be in summer or spring: overheating is fairly easy...if you don't sprint all time in the sun covered by plastic or covered by kevlar simply stopping in a building/shade and removing head and torso items should help. You would appreciate indeed, many other players undoubtedly no. Having an assault rifle in hand is a big advantage - for sake of game balancing let's avoid piling up too many advantages.

I was half-hoping they would release the first iteration of 0.50 on stable. You know, the one set in december/winter. Imagine...a stable patch where you have to eat every ten meters just to stay in orange "hungry" status, where shoes degrade 10% every step you make, where a simple drizzle make you hypotermic and where canned food spawn once every three real-world days. No matches anywhere, but deers and boars invading Chernarus, mocking you with their dull eyes and plump venison. Everyone is a n00bspawn forever, prowling the same cities at every log in...scavenging in vain for something - anything! And the few able to reach, by luck or skill, as far as distant Khelm, lost in the fogs of starvation and dehydration? With their purple canvas pants and badly damaged pink hoodies would be kings.

It's not fluctuating at all. Calories/water consumption are influenced by characters' moving speed, ground type and elevation, body and environment temperature, path chosen. Sprint uphill on uneven ground while you're cold and wet during a windy storm and you'll consume water/calories faster. Sprint on a flat paved road near the coast while you're healthy and you'll consume less water/calories. Same thing for shoes degradation: sprint or run often on uneven ground and footwear will degrade more quickly - low/normal hiking boots, working boots, military footwear and such probably are an exception. Run on paved/dirt roads and they will degrade slowly.

No need to be in a post-apocalyptic scenario. Try running, all of a sudden, very close to a stranger and see what happens: if he's polite you'll be shooed off very angrily. If he's not...hope you have a strong jaw, because probably something will connect with your face. People in real life react to a various amount of stimuli: yelling "hey I'm friendly" to someone while you run into their personal space is perceived as an aggressive behaviour - regardless of what you're verbally saying. Going around dressed in full camo with your face covered is perceived as a suspect behaviour: certain clothes are associated to certain (unpleasant) things and if, on top of that, you cover your face too you’re just screaming for a defensive reaction – even if you’re not acting suspiciously or aggressively. Displaying certain items also tell something, even if you don’t intend to convey that message: I’ve been in certain countries where showing recognizably American or British clothes were “highly discouraged” regardless of the wearer’s true nationality. I admire all the people who want a decrease in violence in DayZ, and I respect the efforts of many community members…but seriously, first learn how to behave properly in a dangerous environment (real life experiences in this field helps in DayZ too). Then, when you’re not unknowingly acting aggressively or suspiciously, feel free to moan about being killed for “no reason” and demand “more cooperation and less violence”. Just my two cents

Mainly my interactions are: shotgun to the face. Not-so-metaphorically speaking, of course. I feel bad any time I do it but, seriously, the amount of stupidly aggressive behaviour on the servers is staggering, even on the (marginally) more friendly experimental ones. Either half of the people are playing with sound muted, don’t understand universal English words or are not aware that their actions can easily be classified as aggressive even if they mean no harm. Some examples of “interactions” happened to me in the past days: “Stay back, keep your distance” “Hey hello!” *runs closer” “Back off” *keep distance* “Man hey listen” *runs closer* BLAM Or “Don’t pick up your weapon, and stay still” *pointing gun at suspicious sneaky player* “Hey listen I want to trade” *unshoulder weapon* BLAM Or “Stay back, keep your distance” “I’m unarmed, I just spawned” *runs closer* “Back off” *keep distance* “I’m friendly wait!” *runs closer* BLAM WTF, if I’m pointing a gun at you and I’m saying don’t come any closer…don’t come closer. It’s simple. I don’t care if you want to play DayZ: Hugs of The Carebears, don’t act suspiciously or people will kill you. Nonverbal communication, general behaviour and many other things are “communication/interactions” too, you know. Even on DayZ. Example? Assault rifles. If you take time and resources to pick up an assault rifle it means you're going to proactively seek confrontation. That means you're communicating you're a threat. That means other players will communicate with bullets and/or melee weapons with you.

A quick question...my character is in possession of an LZH-43 (without ammo) and a saw. Previously I used mainly SKS, carbines and such...never shotguns. I'm still looking for a box of 00, but meanwhile I was wondering if the LZH should stay with me, should be ditched or if it's advisable sawing it.

Another experimental build sound strange...probably it will be 0.50 hitting Stable. AFAIK they postponed the deploy of the patch because during last minute tests there were several unexpected crashes. This forced the developers to re-work on the patch and try fixing the issue. Probably 0.50 Stable will be very similar to current 0.50 Experiemental, with less crashes and issues.

"Incentives" bog down this kind of discussion because they are something only the vocal minority of the playerbase wants. Personally I'm all for a good roleplaying session in DayZ or for simple collaboration between players...but it's a personal preference; I'm mature enough to understand that others may not enjoy RP or maybe don't want to play cooperatively in this game. This is not a mod of a game, it's a legitimate product: it have to appeal to a wider playerbase. Remember, this is marketed as a sandbox multiplayer game, and that means the developers are giving you the world where you play in - just that. What you do in this world is up to you, and there should not be a "preferred" playstyle enforced or encouraged by game mechanics. The developers can amp up the difficulty in clearing towns from infected NPC (suggesting people to play in stable or improvised groups for easy loot), can make boarding buildings or repairing vehicles difficult/time intensive for a lone player (suggesting people to cooperate for tactical advantages) and so on...but giving incentives to players because they talk instead of press the trigger? Why, and how? But most importantly: why?

It's the opposite for me: no server crashes (mainly I play on UK and DE ones), lots of client crashes. And considering the amount of euro players in experimental, that means waiting 10+ minutes in order to find a spot in a server after every crash. It's the same for me: I have always that message, but every time my character is loaded correctly. I don't know if it's related, but in woods often I keep hearing the TWING of an arrow passing nearby. Either I'm stalked by killer archers in every server I log in or something is wrong. Random sounds of people eating, drinking, treading on leaves/branches and such is still present and it's a hell of an immersion breaker. Seriously, sometimes you can't tell if someone is upstairs eating or if it's just the game producing random sounds. Fixing it should be really easy. I mean, if those sounds are simply placeholders for other ones, is it so difficult using for placeholder sounds NOT important for spatial awareness? Record a dog barking and use it instead of using player or infected made sounds. Never happened on my gaming sessions. There's a great amount of loot not properly interacting with ground and buildings: lots of stuff that spawns belond ground or, when dropped at first floor, falls to ground level through the building. Loot spawning need a major overhaul, but starter zones shouldn't be used as evidence of problems...way too many people stick to those areas even when they have a decent amount of gear. Deaf only to player sounds - I've found that infected' snarls and fight sounds attract more infected. Eagle eyes...no, not really. In the open if you're visible (bright colours, standing up and moving quickly) yes, but cover works. I was able to screen my approach to an heavily infested area with subdued colours and brushes, trees and ground elevation blocking their line of sight.

While I agree on the first part of your answer, I need to write down a comment on the last one...Dean Hill and team Bohemia have all my (ours) respect for the job they're doing and for the artistic vision of the game...but they're not "kind" and the alpha-early access is not a benign concession to the playerbase, it's a common strategy used nowadays to fund games. So, we're not guests of a benevolent patron that need to thread carefully on what we do or what we say. We're customers, and we're funding this game. There's a line between respect, passion and helpful suggestions (what we should provide as alpha-testers/customers) and subservience, and it's not so thin. Having a "stable" and "experimental" build, for example, is not something our dear developers-friends have gifted us...it's a common strategy to perform massive server and user based tests. DayZ is not a mod, it's no more the pet project of a talented individual...it's an honest product that is going to be developed, tested, marketed and then sold worldwide.

In order of importance, you have to: * avoid high-traffic areas unless you're decently geared and well fed; high traffic areas are ALL coastal towns and spawn points, ALL military installations, ALL airports and ALL inland town reachable in a couple of minutes from the coast OR from a spawn point * never, ever sprint * avoid online guides and/or maps telling you what kind of loot you'll find in buildings - search everywhere and use first person when you do it * prioritize suburban residential areas for food and tool shacks/barns for useful tools (combining rope and burlap sack are a must to increase quickly and cheaply your inventory) * when you find a pond, lake or a water fountain drink until your status hits dark green hydratated * don't forage (as in, don't search for berries or apples on plants) but scavenge canned food, and open what you find only with bladed weapons, saws or screwdrivers to avoid wasting too much food In general there's a fair amount of loot around, and for some strange reason it's all in pristine condition. As you should always do, start scouting the buildings around the area you spawned (if any) and then leave IMMEDIATELY the area, especially if you're on the coast. Especially if you're in a big town. Travel without sprinting towards small towns out of reach from the mass of players hanging around the coast. An example: let's pretend you spawn in the southwestern part of Chernogorsk, in the area around the supermarket. Scout quickly the buildings around, then avoid the rest of the town, Balota airstrip, Novoselky and Dubvky. Head north towards Nadezhdino, scouting the eastern part of Chapaevsk just because you will likely pass near it. You'll find a decent amount of loot on your short trip inland, and you'll be at least sufficiently equipped...and in a good geographical position to launch some loot runs inland or, if you're that kind of player, to return on the coast. It's not as glamour as beelining towards a military base to brag about the new AKM you've found, it's not as thrilling as running up and down the coast clubbing newspawns like you because you don't find anything to loot...but it's a start.

AFAIK it's not bugged: meat is cooked much more quickly, and the time window to pull it out to avoid burning is very short. I have only second-hand reports to quote on that, though: I never used stoves. I stick to camp fires because they can warm you too, while stoves can be used only for cooking.

There are still problems with item spawn, and other players looting before...so it is possible to misjudge the health level of your character, plan a trip that brings him too far ahead, hit several unlucky or already looted areas...and risk an embarassing death. I don't like server hopping, especially in EXP where your character gets wiped at least a couple of times in a month: but there's no need to pose as teh pro play3r gifting the noob with condescending tips. Lately there are too many people on the forum bragging about how to proper play the game instead of working with the community to improve it, IMHO.

Yeah, well...have you ever noted that: HUNTING (required): To cook: paper or bandages, sticks, matches To cook (optional): gas stove, gas canister, matches, frying pan or cooking pot To kill preys: firearm, ammo for firearm To kill preys (optional): axe to chop ashwood stick, ashwood stick, rope, sticks, kitchen feathers To kill preys (optional, only for rabbits): stick, metal wire To skin preys: any kind of knife FISHING (required): To cook: paper or bandages, sticks, matches To cook (optional): gas stove, gas canister, matches, frying pan or cooking pot To catch fishes: axe to chop ashwood stick, ashwood stick, rope, farming hoe to dig worms, worms, fishing hook To catch fishes (optional, only for sardines in the sea): plastic bottle, bladed weapon to cut plastic bottle, farming hoe to dig worms, worms To fillet preys: any kind of knife GARDENING (required): To plant seeds: farming hoe or shovel, fertilizer, tomato seeds, greenhouse in one of the towns So...as you can see yes, there are several options in order to avoid starvation. Many of them are either item-heavy (hunting, fishing) or offer low rewards (calories gained with tomatoes are neglegible compared to other sources). Obviously when you're decently geared those options offer a valid alternative to braving any town hoping for the best...but when you're not geared or are in an emergency, trying to grow tomatoes/hunting/fishing is laughable. As a freshly spawn player, in the time you gather all resources needed either to fish or hunt you'll be dead if in the meantime you don't opt for good old scavenging. Trying to survive on tomatoes is easier and less costly, but you're pretty tied to a single spot and tomatoes don't keep you out of "red starvation" anyway. In the beginning, you HAVE to scavenge. While I agree this 0.50 build is a lot less punitive than the previous ones AND it should be easier surviving than before, there's no need to pose as a hard-as-nails survivalmen and act all smug-like because hey, I can hunt in a videogame!

Well, a few hours ago there were only four 3rd person view EXP servers on the european area. That's 200 people playing in the EU, with a (I suppose) rather long queue behind them. I suppose it's quite normal finding few things in high traffic areas...too many people playing on too few servers. And all those people often hang around the "usual" zones, creating a vicious circle. I hope loot spawn/respawn will get sorted out quickly, but on the forum and in game there are too many people complaining it doesn't work. It's not true...it works, the problem is we're too many in the same areas. Spread out guys...there's a whole country outside military installations and the southern cities :D

Loot respawn works. If players hang around high-traffic areas (spawn zones, military installations, areas around police/fire stations and such) they will find only scrap and junk. I've just logged off after touring Dolina-Shakhovka-Staroye before going towards Mogilevka in a 50/50 UK server...good amount of loot in the usually ignored small towns, and it wasn't "christmas barns", all the things were evenly distribuited in various buildings. While I was in Berezino (southern part) there was almost no loot around, just useless leftovers of previous scavengers. Don't know if it's something already re-introduced in previous patches, but burned out vehicles (trucks, pick up and such) spawn loot again. During previous patches I never bothered searching them, but those burned out vehicles are spawning like crazy now.