oktyabr

I assume that's a rhetorical question? We can chase that topic in circles for pages of posts and I think both you and I have done that plenty already. But let's examine it one more time just because I've got a few minutes to kill... Zombie Apocalypse? Then why aren't the zombies the focus of this game? Why is anything not unrestricted PVP "carebear"? Ideally I'd like to see the game balance itself... the zombie apocalypse be so big a challenge that no one has the time to get bored enough to pew pew bean carriers in Cherno. But it's not there yet. Players get tons of wicked milspec weapons and then shoot other players. Plenty of games out there to play to do that... what should this one do to be different?

LOL Point taken. If the mass murderer stereotype is confined to a few very suggestive skins then the "bandit skin" concept is fulfilled, orange jumpsuit or not. The idea itself wasn't bad, it's just not very well implemented yet. I like the idea of a wider skin selection since there are very limited ways to make a visual distinction between players. I agree with you on that. But if we are going to have a variety of skins on the servers why not expand the bandit punishment to include a few different ranges? And off topic... does he look like a friendly Hindu you would want to meet on the street? :D

The problem is though that this requires you to actually be hit. I've become a bandit simply because people have tried to shoot me and completely missed - I don't make that mistake and ensure I hit them' date=' and usually put in a couple more rounds just to be safe... Humanity is a good idea on paper, I really believe that; but how it's been implemented in the game in its current state? Not so much. I'd say remove humanity for the time being and keep working on the bugs that they've been working towards anyway! Adding such a big thing in at this stage will only (and has) created more issues for them to work on. [/quote'] You could be right but consider this... the mod isn't even out of alpha yet and PVP, bandit skins and humanity/"morality" seem to be the biggest points of discussion on these boards. People tend to remember negative things said about something rather than the *lack* of negative things... it's a caveman survival instinct or something. The mod is at too early a stage to garner a ton of any kind of publicity except ideally "it's a great zombie survival game with a PVP aspect for realism". It's much harder for a game to shake a negative word of mouth reputation than it is to get it, even after the things it was criticized for are fixed. I'm not suggesting the devs spend all their time working on these problems but at the same time understand why they might try to do something. Maybe a check could be made for line of site when a weapon sounds so even if the bullet misses you you still get "free target". If it's a buddy of yours barely missing your head because he's trying to get a zombie off your back well, no biggie... it's not like you are going to turn around and shoot him. But if someone else is shooting at you, even if they miss, you could act in self defense without penalty.

I don't have one! I'm only suggesting that Charlie Manson, with a swastika carved into his forehead, probably wouldn't be able to go wandering around in public very easily without being identified or at least people trying to avoid him on appearance alone, even if he was wearing an Armani suit and tie. The bandit skin was originally implemented for one reason and one reason only. As an experiment in controlling "pew pew". It doesn't work. If the devs are to follow your suggestion and allow more variety in player skins then why not have the Charlie Munchy... ooops... MANSON types be a little easier to recognize for what they are? This accomplishes your goal of more skin variety and would maybe push the "punish" skin concept down nearer the bottom of the humanity scale where it would probably do the most good. Capiche? PS For the record, yes, I've played TONS of PVP games, pure death match, and have participated in "factions" myself. This topic has nothing to do with it.

Heh, that was from a little while back. He did say it was thrilling, and said he had to go to bed anyway but... maybe just a little too much for a new player (I wrote my survival guide for him and a few others). He, another friend of ours and I are planning on giving it another go this weekend when we have more time. I'm no l337 player but I've got enough experience to maybe guide them a bit without getting us all shot on the beach.

I worked hard to talk to of my friends into buying Arma2:CO and installing this mod. Here is what one had for a first experience:

I had the G17 for awhile thinking the larger capacity might be a good trade off. When I realized it was taking more hits to drop a zed I switched back to the revolver! Semi auto with a larger clip might be a good suppression weapon against groups of players but when it comes down to dropping something, zombie or a single player, I think the .45 is best.

Thanks for the tip but I'm really looking for west coast US/Canada. Most of our servers on this side of the ocean are hosted clear on the other coast or midway between the two of them. If you aren't very familiar with the size of the continental US there are three hours of difference in daylight between the two coasts and a considerable addition to ping (+60 ms for me to ping the east coast).

+1 Excellent point.

I don't know why you think it nonsense. You are the one suggesting an elaborate custom skin selection routine when obviously there are other things that need attention more. Everyone pretty much agrees that the current bandit skin system is wrong... over half the community is now running around in bandit skins. You want more skin selection, I just suggest something that works at least in the same spirit that caused the bandit skin to be used in the first place. Someone doing nothing but killing other characters to get the high spot on the murder chart would be considered insane in real life. Forget the "escaped convict" reference... use "escaped asylum inmate" instead.

Extra binds, extra bandwidth on the client end, most TS servers would either be hosted on the same server as the game (increasing bandwidth) or those that are not are then subject to ok, the game is up but the TS host is down or vice versa. Switch game servers now you are switching TS servers too... And it simply fractures the player base one step more. I like ACRE in the more vanilla ARMA servers but on this mod it seems as if it would just complicate things further for very little benefit. Besides it's a moot question right now anyway as the devs have clearly stated they are not interested in incorporating extra addons, at this point anyway.

And those without mics? Will their in-game text (on Direct comm) even be read or replied to?

Wow, that's a lot better than $90 month for a single 50 slot and 4000 GB/Month of transfer! I am however very interested in getting some server(s) further west for obvious reasons. I'm not sure how your "kitty" fund is working out now but maybe a separate one for the AZ location might be a good thing or would you prefer to get something out west like I would? I know I'm not the only player connecting from the west coast that wouldn't mind seeing something similar to our timezone, if nothing else.

Yeah, the bandwidth is where it gets expensive. The one host I've been looking at is $49 for 2000GB/Month and $89 for double that, 4000 GB. Although that's for a single 50 slot server. You said you are going through 900+ for two servers?

Thanks for the rapid response! When you say "server" do you mean a single 50 slot or something similar to the hardware you are running in NY (4 x 50?)

How much do you need to get one open in your Arizona region? Do you have an IP I could use to check ping? Could the time zone (in game) be adjusted to suit Pacific daylight savings time? Thanks in advance!

Unless as your humanity dropped your skin selection grew more and more limited until the game changed it for you. Imagine mr.pewpew after sniping his 30th bean-troop that afternoon suddenly finding himself in the bright orange jumpsuit of an escaped convict, maybe smeared with blood, etc.

It's still a good point though. I'd like to see slow blood regeneration perhaps accented by your water and food levels... keep those in the green and your body naturally produces more blood over time. Flashing red water and food, no blood regeneration. This is much more realistic than just eating some cooked steaks... what are we, very finicky vampires? Transfusions are a clever idea in this mod but the blood supply is too limited and finding someone to give you one (especially if you are wearing the bandit skin) is near impossible.

Between my home and vehicles I own three pair myself. Binoculars should be roughly as common as maps and compasses, maybe even more so.

Thanks rocket! You are the man! What are you doing wasting time on the forums??? Aren't you supposed to be slaving away at coding or something? :D

EDIT 5/27 Changed to reflect new ideas and those that have been included: Fine tuned Zombie Behaviors (click me) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Enable "survival" with more realistic options: Water: I'd like to be able to drink when you are near water even if you don't have a canteen, just because you should be able to. I once lost all my gear due to an extended swim (everything but my pistol and ammo) and was irritated that even though there was water all around I was very likely to die of dehydration anyway because I didn't have a container to drink from. Every farm and village should have at least one manual water pump and well. Water is far to sparse in this game for the climate and terrain. On the flip side of that coin make sea water undrinkable. Should be able to last 24 hours with no drink (although any extension towards realism would be welcome). You'd be thirsty but this isn't exactly the Sahara desert either. Food: I'd like to see more animals in the woods. If more players start to hunt for their meals the already sparse animals will be completely wiped out! How about basic fishing tackle and fish to catch? Canned food is very sparse (I've never seen any) in the smaller villages and farms. Would it hurt to scatter a bean can here, some sardines there? Foraging: I'd like to see the addition of foraging for things to eat that don't require a fire to eat them. Wild berries, nuts, mushrooms, roots, grubs, etc. for food. Natural pain killers used to be chewing on some willow bark (contains the same ingredient as aspirin), bandages were moss and mud, etc. Perhaps foraging in gardens in towns could also supply "an old turnip" and the like with enough time spent looking (not automatic). Matches and other ways to make fire, hunting knives (any sharp knife) and containers to hold water should be far more common and should have at least limited availability at pretty much any village or farm. Consumption and blood regeneration: Food and water consumption made more realistic, perhaps on a caloric system. Sit still, consume less. Run like crazy, consume more. Regen blood slowly over time based on water and food levels. Eating 20 cans of beans or half a dozen steaks to rebuild lost blood just doesn't make much sense. And where are the Chernarus version of MREs (Meal Ready to Eat)? High in calories, lightweight, and maybe found around military bases? Skills, perks, etc.: I really don't want a perk based game. Here is a method of implementing "skills" while keeping the game item based. "Books" could be added as findable objects... You might have one called "wilderness survival guide" that identifies good to eat things from those that are poisonous, meaning that not every mushroom you find will be a tasty treat. Other books could be "emergency first aid" that could be used in lieu of medical supplies, "auto repair" for fixing vehicles, "pilot check list" before you can take off in that helicopter you put together, etc. One book per person at any time (?) Setting a broken bone could be a "do unto others" action much like blood transfusions are now. Dynamic weather and cycles of the moon synced to provide MP/JIT coherence. Maybe zombies go crazy at the sound of thunder, maybe fog or hard rain hurts their vision as much as it does ours. Could include hypothermia which produces the same sort of shaking as when in pain. Cure by time by camp fire, staying indoors when it's raining, additional "rain gear", etc. items. Free range zombies and migration: I know this mod will one day have a back story to it and I'd love to know what it was going to be. If the Dayz time frame is significantly after the start of the plague (infection, whatever) then "local" zombies would eventually run dry. Zombies spawning inland (on the dry edges of the map) and moving towards the coastal areas would represent the possibility that Chernarus is one of the last pockets of humanity and the zombies are migrating here in search of fresh food. This would make the north lands more dangerous and explain why more zombies might be found in the wilderness, secondary roads headed to the coast, etc. Extras: Replace american weapons with those more suited to the location. Sort ammo by caliber instead of weapon. Shotguns especially. Magazine fed weapons might take an action to "convert" to use... example: convert .45 cal 1911 rounds to .45 cal revolver. Same with 9mm, 5.56, etc. Fix flashlight so you can hold it in one hand with a pistol in the other.

1.2.24? I've only seen one pair since that release and I think I've tried every update so far, at least the ones that stayed on a server for any length of time. Maybe I should have reworded my suggestion... More binoculars where they can more easily be found by new players. I've seen more sniper rifles than binoculars near the coast line and I think I'd prefer it the other way around.

I'd love to see a revamped version of Chernarus, or a full custom map just for this mod. If BIS decides to release enough "enterable" building models (that don't look like they belong in the desert) it would be sweet to see all the revamps people would be doing.

If it were easy to do they would have already done it. Someone would have, even before DayZ came about. It's not easy and would require tons of custom modelling work. Why are two threads about the exact same thing here?

I found my first pair of binoculars yesterday. I almost fell off a roof it was so shocking to see them there! I don't care at all about milspec optics. Get rid of the NVs and thermals if you like (do thermals even work on zombies? Should they?) But more binocs, please!