dallas

-Since the very first day of the DayZ mod, Rocket has emphasized that his aim is authenticity over realism, so rather than having the game be realistic, he wants to make it feel realistic. The difference is in the nuance, it doesn't matter how realistic your ballistic models are, if they break the immersion of the gameplay experience. So instead of perfectly mapping the human biology, DayZ has some simple needs mechanics that still creates an authentic psychological experience. -Having half the players on a server running around with top of the line anti-material rifles and special forces's carbines is neither very realistic or authentic. I got the sense that survival would be turned up a notch in the standalone, which also meant you wouldn't be able to easily find sniper rifles, assault rifles and heavy machine guns scattered all over the countryside. Chernarus is not Texas or South Central, you probably wont find an AR variant or Tek-9 in every household or fire station. -They removed a lot of code, because ArmA and DayZ wants to do two different things. ArmA wants to be a infantery/battlefield experience, while DayZ wants to be a zombie survival experience. This means that Rocket can go into the AI directory, highlight all the files and press delete, then he can replace the AI with zombie AI, instead of trying to script ArmA's infantery AI to stop zig-zagging and perform flanking maneuvers. ArmA is not only a game, it's also a platform and template for user content, it's mission editor and script injection makes it both great to mod, but also easy to abuse. By initially removing the user content aspect of ArmA and moving towards a mmo server structure, DayZ will attempt to run all the scripts on the host server trying to minimize hacking as much as possible.

The latest E3 Stadnalone devbuild has planted a seed of concern. I hate to invoke the WarZ word, but after watching the latest build I was left somewhat alarmed. It's not news to me that Rocket felt ArmA's animations needed a redesign, that he and BI had different philosophies concerning the core design of the engine's animations. When I saw the latest devbuild, I found new appreciation for ArmA's not always universally loved animations and got WarZ associations from watching the new ones. I understand that WarZ carries heavy weight and are often used to provoke and exaggerate, but the new animation philosophy, where all animations are fleeting and easily interrupted, really reminds me of WarZ gameplay footage. In WarZ as soon as you're not pressing down a movement key, your player model instantly clips into an idle animation, which is a constant immersion breaker, because it look unnatural and cheap. The new jump animations also reminds me of WarZ's movement scheme. ArmA's animations has been accused of much, but despite of BI's animation design, ArmA has had a long and loyal following of players with real military experience. ArmA's grenade throwing has received a lot of criticism, but have you ever tried to throw a 400g hand grenade 30-40 meters? It's not an instant an smooth motion, first of all you want to pull the pin without dropping the thing at your feet and first then you want to throw it. I don't really like ArmA 3's new approach, where you're able to throw 5 grenades in five seconds, but I digress. ArmA's animations are indeed clunky or heavy, but so is your body, your limbs and gear. Mass in motion doesn't just instantly cease, because you stop applying muscle power, you don't come to an instant halt, when you want to stop sprinting. I think ArmA's animations appear a lot more clunky, simply because the only alternative is the generic shooter control scheme, where all objects are either too tall to navigate or can be reached by a crouch-jump. Unlike these standard shooters, ArmA's player is a vehicle, a mass and not just a camera script with first person animations. This mass helps us players to immerse ourself into ArmA's virtual world. ArmA's virtual world is not just a pretty face, it feels real, it is real. Distances are real, distances affects your stamina, your accuracy and it's objects has to be negotiated, by a real body loaded down with equipment. DayZ was a succes despite ArmA's animations, but maybe the people, who embraced DayZ, despite never given ArmA the time of the day, learned to distinguish movement scheme from arcade shooters and ArmA's more advanced movement. ArmA's movement isn't 100% perfect, but there's a difference between how you move, when you're a top trained free-running gymnastic acrobat and when you're a soldier or survivor, where you rely primarily on your feet, ankles, knees and legs for transportation. We've all been killed by bugs, by doorways, ladders and stairways. But we've also attempted to run down the stairs in a barn and to be honest, if you were to jump down some stares or down to the floor below, with a loaded backpack, holding a rifle in both hands, a sprained ankle would not be entirely unrealistic. Most ArmA and DayZ players, learned than doing a 360 prone in a narrow doorway, closing a door shut on your legs or sprinting down stairs was a risky thing to do and usually had to make that mistake only once. Maybe DayZ didn't only succeed despite of ArmA, maybe DayZ also succeeded because of ArmA. TLDR: I think the departure of ArmA's animation philosophy is a mistake, I think despite weight and the decreased reaction times, it's actually is one of the ingredients, that makes interaction with ArmA's world immersive, where a player body is a real body. A body in motion, a body you have to protect and a body with physical limitations.

You find the Bible and go blind, I like it.

Also you know you can stand to the left of the door, when you open it.

Karl is clearly one of those controlling assholes. :)

I think we need to look at both sides of this argument.

Oh my effing gosh!

fair point actually.

That's how I do it in the mod right now. :)

Any gameplay mechanism that prevent people from playing the game they bought is pretty offensive. What I like about DayZ is that it doesn't judge me, if doesn't tell me how to play. Me personally, I'm motivated by increasing my days lived count and prioritize survival higher than gear. That's why I avoid the most competitive areas and generally try avoiding PvP. I don't like getting killed, so I always try to be aware of my surroundings, keep cover and escape routes near and since I don't like getting killed, I don't kill other players if I don't have to. I like the humanity system with all it's flaws. It's not perfect, it can be concealed and should never be completely trusted, but it works as a simple cross server reputation system. I don't like bandits, but they play an important role and the mere presence of them in the game affect every single player encounter. Because you never know what motivates the stranger you meet, you have to treat all stranger with both respect and caution.

I voted no. I don't think it will prevent killings, because there will always be bandits and the game will always need bandits. I think a lot of KOS can be avoid, if players stopped presenting easy targets. There's already an option to lower weapons and veteran players never train their muzzles on team mates or lower their weapons, when they have to access their buddy's backpack. Whether you hold or toggle, you're still only a single action away from pulling the trigger and I think it's really up to players themselves to realize that the reason they are always getting killed is because they are stupidly exposing themselves to fire or getting shot because they point their own weapon at someone else's face. Maybe place a few subtle hints in the loading screen. "If you are behind cover, you're harder to shoot." "Aiming a weapon at someone is a hostile action."

And I reacted to this extreme and violent departure from ArmA. :) I agree completely. Best grenades, I've seen was in America's Army, where you could pull the pin, cook it and chose between over and under hand throws.

I think it's important to raise these concerns, while Rocket is still evaluating the build. The animations transitions are at the moment is simply a thorn in my eye. I really hate to do this, because I know, they've put a lot of work into reworking the animations, but there's a reason, why I play ArmA more any other shooters out there and part of it is that the player body carries some actual weight. I'm not saying BI's animation philosophy is 100% perfect, but the standalone's complete departure from it, causes the clipping that I describe as the WarZ instant idle effect. Concerning refueling and tent animations, if you want a instant abort option, they also need to design a mechanic, where you drop the 25kg jerry can and splashes fuel all over yourself and accidentally ingnite yourself, when you discharge your firearm and generally it's not a good idea to set up a tent, when a zombie is gnawing at your leg. These animations are already very short as they are now. I also solved my so called binocular accidents re-binding by binoculars to 2xB. As for grenades, I confess they are a little messy, but throwing a grenades takes your full attention, something you commit to and is generally not something you do in the middle of a melee. There's a big difference between an apple and a grenade, one of them has a wartime safety distance of the nearest solid object and a peacetime safety distance of 275 meters. Grenades in games doesn't reflect reality much. When you retrieve it and pull the pin you really want a firm grip on it, you also want to alert everyone around you about what you're about to do and then you want to know exactly where you're throwing it and know exactly what kind of obstacles,you need to be sure are between your fragile skin and the hundreds of tiny steel fragments that are distributed by the explosion.

I agree that the same issues I have with the animations are similar to the issues I have with the inventory system. While the mods inventory system had some random delete item glitches, you could easily distinguish a n00b from a veteran survivor. A new player would become a static target, spending 30 seconds digging through his back pack, deciding to take one or two cans of pepsi, while someone like me could loot cycle an entire supermarket in 60 seconds. I thought inventory management, just like anything else in DayZ was a skill in it's own, which helped you feel a sense of accomplishment, because a skilled looter, never presented a sitting target for long enough to get killed, while new players would sit with their backs towards the supermarket's doors, until a bandit finally came around and removed the back of their heads.

I have similar concerns and more of less made a similar thread 6 minutes after yours. :) http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/139461-sa-departure-from-arma-animations/#entry1368415 Merge?

I'm thinking about the dudes with guns.

Which will most likely get you killed. :)

I'm saying a kickstarter would become a burden, not the money made from ArmA 2 sales. Look at how upset people are, when there's no devblog released each Friday. Now imagine how piss off they'd be, if they pledged money too. Right now Rocket can rightfully tell us to go eff ourselves, because none of us has actually handed him any of our hard earned entitled money. We bought a 2009 game to play something free. The creators of the 2009 game then decided to use some of their earnings on prolonging Rockets contract, promoting him and given him funding and creative control. The mod has already funded the standalone. Since BI announced the 600% increased sales of ArmA 2, ArmA 2 has constantly been a Steam top seller. I'm pretty sure some of these money were used to secure Rocket a decent contract for the Standalone's scheduled development(Initial development + 12 months of post-launch support). I'm also sure Rocket got a pay raise, being promoted to lead dev and it would probably not be far fetched to assume to Rocket got a little cash bonus from BI either. They may have given him one of these sexy looking lambo-like Skodas. However Rocket and BI wouldn't be working on the standalone, if they didn't think people would be interested in buying it. I'm saying I don't see the need for a kickstarter campaign, because it would never be able to secure the same kind of money that the DayZ mod's ArmA 2 sales have generated and whatever little money a kickstarter would generate, wouldn't be worth the highly increased demand that follows, when people are suddenly expecting to get some kind of value for their pledges.

Let's not forget that DayZ had increased ArmA 2 sales 600% ten months ago and that ArmA 2 has consistently been a Steam top seller ever since. I'm pretty sure that DayZ's ArmA 2 sales have pretty much funded itself. Obviously Rocket and BI have to approach the Standalone as a product that should support itself, when sold, but to think that a kickstarter campaign would make a major difference in funding. Most likely a kickstarter would become more an obstacle, than an actual benefit. My main concern is that player animations and movement comes off as too light and too smooth. I know this might sound like a bit of a joke, but I don't like the way the player smoothly negotiate fences without slowing down. I think that ArmA works so well because the player is an actual vehicle, that has to navigate real terrain and distances. Hauling his own weight, gear and weapons across the land. I understand that the standalone has to transform into a mmo structure, but I'm afraid animations and movement removed itself too far from what I like about ArmA. I'm still keeping my expectations in check and whatever happens, it's very interesting both as a gamer, but also to see what an idealist like Rocket can do with control and a funded project.

Beans for scoop. :)

Nice, however I wouldn't mind sexing up the shouldered rifle. I hear you if you don't want the muzzle aiming downwards or have the rifle clipping through the backpack hanging diagonally across the back, but please lower it a bit(a lot), so the barrel and muzzle doesn't peak high above the players heal like an antenna.

Hi Goose, It's always easier to find a specific thread, when you know what to look for and this might be it: http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/97659-consolidated-weaponsequipment-suggestions/ Ask a mod to merge your post in this thread or resubmit your suggestions there.

Thanks, love it, love it, love it.

Dean Turpin.