I agree, denser forests would be sweet, but I'm ok with how they look now. Great job.
Now, I am not much of a "forum-er", but i am a loyal DayZ SA fan. I'm hopping onto the forums to voice my opinion on the ambient sounds.
What brought me into DayZ was the immersion, the grit, the quiet loneliness which makes encounters that much more frightening. I love the raw campy-foresty experience of DayZ.
Anyways, while I love the direction the Devs went with the Ambient sounds, I'm hoping they will get some more treatment. (eventually, I'm not saying NOW. I'm a patient person and the team has so much on their plates.)
1.) I think they over-did the crickets and animal noises. I feel like I would've enjoyed more wind and silence than hearing a whole bunch of animals I will never see. When i hear owls and birds and critters, my brain expects to SEE them. In a real forest, I don't feel like I hear that many animal noises. Anyway, I just feel like it kind of pulls me out of the immersion, and I feel less lonely with so much sound and noise going on. I'd prefer a very rare/occasional noise and maybe a bit lighter on the crickets. I think when you can have times where you just hear your footsteps, some wind, and then suddenly hear an occasional/rare animal sound it builds the suspense. In this sense i think the old sounds were better because they were a bit more subtle.
2.)Some of the sounds transitions when going from forest to field are a little too sudden as well.
3.) It'd be cool if when you enter a building, the sound muffles/deafens a bit, especially when doors are closed. (not sure how doable this is) The fact that i hear the same level of noise in/out of buildings ruins the ambience quite a bit.
I really enjoy the game and love the vision the team has. I'm a sucker for perfect sound design (ooooh like Elite Dangerous...*drools*). It makes/breaks the immersion for me!
Thanks, friends.