RoninGotPicks

I'm going to assume no character wipe this time around? I'm up at Tisy, I'll test out some zombie behavior once servers go live. EDIT: Character wipe.

Fair enough; I could definitely settle with this. Perhaps the aftermarket-style components for weapons could be added later as a mod when it becomes available to us. I'm sure all the PvP-focused servers would love something like this, especially in an Epoch-style setting (with trader camps and economy). But I'd take immersion over crazy-excess availability of parts any day, and I can't help but agree with your point here. I can definitely see something like this being a part of the vanilla game, especially since crafting stations were hinted at as you mentioned earlier. I like the idea of actually having to use these tools and special machinery at crafting stations to create the certain modifications desired. Great idea. Thank you for the correction. My firearm knowledge needs a little brushing up :) Cheers.

You make an excellent point. DayZ has been and always will be about survival. And while these new items I suggested could make some pretty powerful weapons, it's important to consider rarity; after all, it is the apocalypse. I think improvised attachments should be the more readily available and common option, with majority of the playerbase resorting to those options because it's a lot easier to create and put together. What I've proposed is more of an end-game goal that will keep players returning to military locations and always pushing towards something greater. If I had it my way, these weapon components would NOT be easy to get. I'm not just going to let every other player run around with an Archangel Mosin-Nagant mounted with a x10 optic, or else we'd be right back to the Overpoch days. In a theoretical world where my system existed inside the game, finding a player with that sort of high-powered rifle would be a tough challenge. Building an advanced weapons system like this would really be something reserved for long-term survivors who have lasted for days on a server.

Hello DayZ Forums, I've decided to switch over from the /r/DayZ subreddit to share with you guys (the fans) as well as the DayZ development team an idea for expanding the way firearms function in DayZ Standalone. I call it the Advanced Weapons System, or AWS for short. Below you'll find a full explanation of how it works as well as some concept pictures to go along with it. Please keep in mind I am not the best at Photoshop, and the images are only there to reinforce the concept. DayZ Standalone - The Current Firearms System In the current iteration of DayZ Standalone (version .60), the following firearm types are available based on firing-action (Please note: Projectile Weapons (Bows) and Explosives are not listed): Bolt-Action Rifles Lever-Action Rifles Break-Action Rifles Break-Action Shotguns Pump-Action Shotguns Semi-Automatic Rifles Full-Automatic Rifles Semi-Automatic Pistols Submachine-Guns Given these firearms, the following attachments can be added to the firearm in-game (keep in mind some attachments do not fit certain firearms): Buttstock Handguard Sight / Optic Barrel Attachment Rail Attachment(s) Magazine Cover (Ghillie Wrap) Unfortunately for users like me, I find the current iteration of the attachment system to be a bit... underwhelming. After all, other attachment systems in game such as vehicles require WAY more sub-components to function, and often go into a higher fidelity of detail on what parts are required to get that system to work. Given that firearms are comprised of many different sub-components, I find it fit to go into a higher detail on what's required to get that weapon to function in-game. As you will see later, this also opens up the possibility for a wide-variety of customization options for the player. Expanding the Attachments for Firearms - Introduction to the AWS System To start off this explanation, we'll be focusing on one of the most modular firearms in the world - the M4A1 Carbine. Don't worry though - I'll get into detail about how this system will effect other rifle types later in this post. For now, let's take a quick examination of what the M4A1's attachments list would look like under the new system: Complete Upper Receiver Bolt Barrel Handguard Upper Receiver Housing Complete Lower Receiver Buttstock Trigger Group Lower Receiver Housing Sight / Optic Magazine Rail Attachment(s) Barrel Attachment Cover (Ghillie Wrap) Under the new system, we'd see the addition of several sub-components of the rifle: most notably the Bolt, Barrel, Trigger Group, and Weapon Housing. These sub-components can be put together to create one whole component of the rifle, which is then used as an "attachment" to the weapon to make it complete. In the M4A1 Carbine example given above, the weapon would include 7 attachments, with 2 attachments being critical for the rifle to function (the complete upper and complete lower receiver). Between the complete upper and lower receiver, there would be 7 sub-components required to get the weapon to work. It's important to note that this system would make highly sought after weapons HARDER to put together as they would require more parts to function completely, thereby making these firearms RARER. As you will see here in a bit, this opens up the possibility for a wide-variety of customization and damage values to be applied to the weapon: Item Condition and Sub-Components of the Firearm: How Damage is Calculated under the New System Under the AWS, each sub-component would have it's own item condition value (i.e. Pristine, Worn, Damaged, Badly Damaged, Ruined). The total condition value of the weapon would be calculated by taking the average of the conditions of the various sub-components. So if you had a worn bolt, badly damaged barrel, badly damaged handguard, and worn receiver housing - the item condition of that upper receiver would be damaged. The system then takes the condition of each receiver (upper and lower) to calculate the overall condition of the rifle itself. In this case, let's say we had a worn upper receiver and a pristine lower receiver - the overall weapon condition would be worn (the system always takes the lower value if confronted with an unclear choice). This also means that weapon cleaning kits would play a whole other role in DayZ Standalone. Instead of just cleaning the weapon itself, you would have to maintain all the various sub-components of the weapon, making the weapon cleaning kit much more valuable. Weapon Customization: Opening Up the Doors for LOTS of Customization As we all know, highly modular firearms like the M4A1 Carbine are capable of barrel swapping, caliber conversions, and different quality-of-life add-ons such as heavy pull triggers, nickle-plated bolts and barrels, and all that jazz. With this new system, you could potentially find a .308 barrel for the M4A1 with the proper housing and bolt for that caliber. What this means is that you could take the M4A1 and turn it into a long-range DMR, or re-convert it into a short-barreled SBR in a lighter caliber. This would obviously play into the ballistics model of the firearm, as different weapon configurations will output different results when the firearm is being shot. Different trigger groups could result in changes to the rate-of-fire of the firearm, and new housing molds for the receiver could be desired for different aesthetic looks and styles. You could take an AKM and turn it into a short-barreled monster, or increase that barrel length with the right sub-components and run an "RPK-like" LMG. The possibilities here are pretty high, and as I mentioned earlier... this doesn't just apply to fully automatic firearms. SO WHAT ABOUT OTHER FIREARMS RONIN?! We've focused a lot on the M4A1 Carbine because it's a highly modular weapon, but what about the other firearms in DayZ? After all, there are a LOT of weapons to choose from in DayZ Standlone. Well, unfortunately some weapons are not as modular as others, so there are limitations to how customizable certain firearm types can be. Bolt-actions are certainly a firearm type that can see some customization options added to it under the new system, while firearm types like the break-actions would most likely have no change under the new system. To simplify things for you, here's a list of weapons that WOULD be affected under the new system: DEFINITE Change Under the New System Full-Automatic Rifles Semi-Automatic Rifles Bolt-Action Rifles Semi-Automatic Pistols POTENTIAL Change Under the New System Submachine-Guns Pump-Action Shotguns NO Change Under the New System Lever-Action Rifles Break-Action Rifles Break-Action Shotguns Weapons like bolt-actions could have their stocks replaced potentially, opening up the possibility for bipod attachments and picatinny rail mounts on the top of the barrel: Final Thoughts: Rarity, and Fitting into the Environment Chernarus is an Eastern-European satellite state that has forseen many wars and political upheaval. With this in mind, we need to consider the rarity of these new weapon attachment spawns and how they would fit into the environment. It is almost certain that these attachments, sub-components, and weapon parts would be military-spawns only with the occasional lucky residential house find. Eastern-European weapon components like AK barrels and trigger groups should be more common, while NATO style attachments to firearms would be incredibly rare. I mean let's be honest with ourselves, I'd be damn impressed if you found a .308 barrel for an M4A1 in the middle of a Soviet state; needless to say, this is DayZ, and in this world we have seen a clash of NATO and Eastern forces. Perhaps with the advent of more dynamic events in the future, we could see these kinds of items spawning at those locations. I personally believe that this new weapon attachment system would be more in-line with the other mechanics of DayZ (consider vehicle complexity), and it would make for much more weapon customization and rarity of certain firearms. It would open up the doors for people to finally get their "le omg kitted out MLG sniper rifle", but they would have to work HARD for it. With certain rifle types requiring many components to function, it would surely give players more of a reason to pursue military locations in search for these parts. If you've read this far, thank you for taking interest in this idea. I hope many of you have comments to share and ideas to add to this. Until next time, Ronin