vulfy

How is it not adding to a realism? Right now we have no tools to track bandits, even if we want to punish them. This just gives us the ability to get an idea where they are so we can decide on further actions, even if those actions are just to avoid a certain town where latest murder has occured, or general direction where bandit has moved to afterwards.

This mechanic could also be implemented for "gangs". Lets say three bandits are playing together. They move together, ei somewhat close distance to each other for prolonged periods of time. So a "Gang" could be declared by simple association with a bandit. If you are moving together for some time, and only one of you kills another player, the position of the "Gang" could now be updated, and same mechanics would apply to that, as they would to a single Bandit.

Just wanted to drop my 2cents. Had a blast of a game just now... My heart is still racing. Died yesterday in a gunfight. Logged out without respawning. Today decided to play a bit, so spawned as a new character. Spawned on "Cap Golova" during the day. Having enough experience to know that nothing good will come from the coast, I hiked my way across the road, and onto the side of the mountain. Knowing that "Pusta" was just North of my location, figured that it was my best chance to get something to eat, and maybe something to protect myself with. Running across the forest was uneventful except for a lonely camping tent, which was sadly, empty. Came up to "Pusta" and headed straight to the big stable. All I could find was some trash and a hatchet. Good enough, now I'm armed. Heading to the nearest lootable house I agroed a couple of zombies. No biggie, hatchet made a quick hamburger out of them... I love this thing. House did not provide anything meaningful, except for an extra bandage and a coke. Usual story with these things. Running out of points of interest, on my sightseeing tour of "Pusta", my next heading was "Mogilevka". Since its a bigger settlement I figured it would give me a better chance to stock up on some food and maybe a weapon. "Zub" is not far from it, so I would make it there, and then head North to "Stary Sobor" to try my luck of avoiding snipers and looting some military hardware. The run to the "Mogilevka" was not very eventful either. Upon entering the town I received a message from the server that it will be restarting within 5 minutes. I picked up my pace, to make it to the barn just in time to see if it had anything before server would go down. The Gods of "Z" have smiled upon me, as the barn revealed a LeeEnfield with two clips. NOW I'm dangerous. Server went black and I disconnected with the hopes that my Enfield was saved on my character, before the server's restart. Server came back within minutes, but with high ping. My character was grasping Enfield it his hands which eased my mind a bit. I made my way to the nearest building, avoiding zombies. Unfortunately as soon as I entered the first room, BattleEye decided that my ping was not adequate for the server, and promptly kicked me out. No biggie... A quick hop to a server with a nicer ping, I was back in the game looking at the loading screen. ....... I was greeted with a red glow and a sound of gunshots to the right of me, as my screen flickered to life. Great.... Ass to the floor, hug the wall, turn around, face the door. Wait... Listen... Moaning and groaning of the zombies were faintly floating in the sound of the heavy rain. The whole town was flickering red and pink from a couple of road flares burning and sizzling somewhere down the street. Well, its a good day to die as any.... Crouch... ass out of the door... turn left... hug the wall...... backyard... zombie to the right..... zombie left.... sneak between..... gunshot..... fuck it.... run.... gunshot.... again... again... bushes scrubbing my legs and arms.... Black outlines of the trees on the slope of a hill, were barely visible in the heavy wall of water coming down. I finally made it out of the last flickers of light, coming from the town.... If whoever was shooting, didn't have NVGs, I had a chance. They didn't..... Running a bit into the trees, I slowed my pace, and parked myself in a nice position behind a trunk of a thick tree and a small bush to the right of it, with a big enough gap in between to see what was going on in the town. LeeEnfield in hand, the hunt was on. I figured a pro would not use a flare to light up the town, much less two of them. Noobs.... I started circling slowing to my left, trying to see who it was. Running away was out of the question. I wanted blood. A third flare lit up the night right next to the stables left of me. Perfect, a broken line of small bushes was just what I needed to get into position. A few seconds later I was on the spot, overlooking the stables from the side. A flare was burning right next to the side entrance, and to my surprise three men were shuffling around it. Zombies... Nope. Baseball caps, vests, guns slung over the shoulders. #$@%ers One of them was lying on the floor with the two others hunched over him. HA! Zombies got his legs. This is just perfect! LeeEnfield barked once... twice... Both bullets missed the medic, planting themselves solidly into the body of his patient. It convulsed and a small fountain of blood painted more red on this God forsaken town. Well at least he didn't suffer... much... I had to give it to the reaction of his friends though. Before the echo of the second shot faded off, both of them dove straight into the door of the stables and into the darkness. Crap... Figuring that sitting on the same spot after my rifle quite clearly pinged my position to them, was not the best idea, I decided to head down the hill to a small grove at the base of the stables. Maybe not the smartest move, but it allowed me to keep a clear eye on the barn, while changing my position around these #$%holes. Said... and done. Flare's light was just licking the leaves of the bush right in front of me, but I was in the shade. Back entrance was closed, so they probably headed out the other way... My heart racing, I forced myself to keep the position for a few more minutes. Zombies were shuffling around the town, but no gunshots, nor any abrupt movement has cut through the silence that came after the rain has stopped. Must have slipped from the other side... I sure as hell would not have stayed in a pitch black barn after one of my buddies just let out his ghost at the entrance. Circling the barn on the other side, I was at disadvantage. The barn was still on the slope of the hill, and now I was bellow it. I could only see what flare was showing me, and I knew it would go out soon. Heading into the mess of houses down bellow, with zombies shuffling left and right was not an option. Zombies were not a problem, however the sound of my gunshots, was. I figured a position up on the hill where my first shot was, was the best option in a given circumstance. Not the most brilliant strategy on my part, but what the hell, if I make it up the hill, I'll have a good view of the city and I doubt they would see me, unless they would start chucking road flares at me. Circling back around the barn, I saw a glimpse of movement, going up the same hill, straight from the barn. AHA!!! BANG! BANG! I was in the open, taking my shots. Not caring if I hit, I got my ass in gear and ran to the nearest bush. A red arch streaked across the air into my direction and a second flare lit up my quadrant. Backing out of the circle of light, I kept my eye on the hill. The poor sob was frantically pivoting on his belly, his backpack lighting up like a red beacon, from the glow of his own flare. BANG! More red.... Time to get out of Dodge. I had enough blood on my hands, my heart was bouncing against the rib cage, and palms were sweating. Stables were silent in their red glow. Up the hill and away. Crouching and zig zagging between the trees, I made it to the other side and started heading into the town. Black silhouettes of the trees on the nearest hills, were being smudged by the constant shifting blocks of houses, as I made my way through the gasps and the moans of zeds around me. Red flickering at the bottom right corner attracted my eye. .... In all this excitement, I got hungry. And no food on me, as I didn't find anything but the coke, since my waking at the shore. Damn it! Surviving a gun fight, just to starve to death? I bet those guys had some provisions on them. This back and forth is really getting to me. Will I ever get away from that cursed stable? A fence, vault over, round the house. Groaning to the right, keep left a bit. Ok I see the hill now. WOW! Thats a lot of movement up there. Count with me children, one... two... three... four... five... zombies. Five. Wait... Two are crawlers. Something is not right. When in doubt... Empty you clip. BANG! BANG! Limp body of what used to be a farmer sagged into the grass. Screams and shuffling is now heading my way from my right side. Time to move.... With my eye on the hill I tap my run button, but release a fraction of a second later. Wait.... zombies don't roll... Dive into the bushes, a sprint to the fence. Screaming stopped behind me, and changed back to shuffling. Well at least zombies are as blind as bats, at night. More movement on the hill. Rolling, again, and again in the open. Well buddy, you win the Darwin award. Here is your prize.... ..... Slowly making my way up the hill, I noticed zombies were standing a few meters from the body, motionless, as if mourning. I was still alive though, and my stomach was rumbling. A quick scan of the backpack revealed a few basic necessities such as compass, a knife and a watch, as well as a couple of cans of famous Baked Beans. After making my way to a safer spot, I opened the can. Consumption required a few seconds of my time, which allowed me to contemplate the meaning of life in Chernarus. The meaning of life quickly boiled down to the greasy can in my fingers, and a bullet in the guts of whoever was laying a bit further down. Simple. Search of other two bodies did not produce anything significant. Poor sobs might have spawned just a few hours earlier than me. Sorry guys. Well, a quick couple of hours of my new life, and I'm a sinner already. A well fed sinner, with weapon in his hands, but a sinner nevertheless. With full virtual belly of my character, and real world sweaty paws of my own, I moved a bit further from the town, found a comfy spot in the bushes, and logged off. Thank you to whoever it was, for today's dose of excitement. See you at the shore.

Steaks should really be jerky. Jerky does not go bad, a steak will. And with all the running you do in the game, there is no way in hell you would get morbidly obese.

If a player has to maintain himself by eating, drinking, bandaging, and fighting cold, why our weapons are behaving like they have been serviced and cleaned by professional gunsmith? I can understand military hardware should be in decent shape, but the stuff we find in the barns, and deer stands should be in worse condition, if working at all. My proposal is to add a gun cleaning / maintenance kit, that you have to find, just like a toolbox. It would allow you to clean and fix your gun. The found guns should have a service interval. Some guns would be in worst shape than others. Jams, misfires and maybe even an occasional injury inducing blow-back would be a great incentive to find the cleaning kit. As you fire your gun, drag it through mud and rain, it accumulates grime and is less and less reliable to fire. So next time you are gulping down beans and washing it down with the coke in a quiet spot, take a look at your gun, it might need some love too.

The "1200 blood" really looks like hearts in a side scroller from the 90's. Do we really need to see the 1200 if we have visual cue of graying screen, muffled sounds, and passing out bellow 3000? Tunneling the vision and blurring the view occasionally would be a good indication of heavy blood loss as well. A gazer of blood from the player is a good indication of blood loss in 3rd person view, and for purists of 1st person view, an animation of player bringing his hand covered in blood to his face to look at it, would be a great indicator of an open wound. Pulsing red would be a good indicator of pain, for a broken bone. Shock is already covered by shaking screen and inability to aim. We really don't need to fill up to full 1200 when we get our blood back. Right now its ... eat food, eat food, eat food to get 1200 back. By eating enough food just to relieve the worst symptoms and getting some color back, would be a great indicator that we are getting better. We REALLY do not need to see the numbers on the side. I remember reading somewhere that Rocket doesn't really like the idea of icons, and would rather have visual cues that represent feelings, rather than exact number. Why is 1200 even being implemented like this in the game??? I understand that we need to see our health level, but again, the graying screen is already here, isn't it enough to judge how low on health you are? I would also, really like to see my guy puking at sharp pain, heavy blood loss, or heavy smell of decomposing bodies, when lets say walking nearby a mass grave. He wouldn't be puking at the sight of the zombies, but there should be moments, where the environment is just too much. A mass grave, or a pile of corpses should be enough for a gag reflex.

+100

Can you please lock out a server, after you die? Not permanent, but at least for a few days. So when you die, you can not spawn on the same server for a period of time. You die, you don't have access to your stash anymore. You have to start from the beginning. No friends either, you are dead, dead as a door nail to them, unless they want to server hop to where you are now. But again, they can carry only what they have in the backpack, so no cars, no tents. Frustrating... yes. But it would promote even more caution and fear of death, as well as a more intense start of the game.

hehe, they do, from time to time. :)

I never found a single bolt that I shot into the zombie. Are they suppose to be on them, when I loot them?

I LOVE this idea. http://www.cyberhobo.com/signs/hobosigns.html Ability to leave markings after you, either warning other players, or just to be a douche is an awesome idea. Not to mention that it would add some sort of a story element to the game. Following in somebody else's foot steps, and then finding their body, or the trail just stopping, would be a great "What happened?" story that we can play in our head. The mystery of it all would be great! Also a bit more interaction between players, rather than just point and shoot. Love it!

Not a bad game to take some ques from :)

+1 and retrievable bolts as well. That sort of is the beauty of the crossbow, you should be able to retrieve your ammo, unless it broke on the impact, or you shot it off into the environment and it got lost. Would be nice to have a sharpening kit for the knife AND bolts. As the bolts and knife should get dull after multiple uses.

Aren't they "infected" not "undead"? So killing an infected, is like killing a person. They don't come back.

+1 Seeing them spawn in one spot, and then feather out, is just disappointing.

shrug: I'm basing this idea on the initial concept, of death being something more permanent and damaging than just a re-spawn, like in other games. You are losing everything when you die, so you are starting from scratch. The uncertainty of even being ABLE to play the game again in the next few hours, after you die, should be enough to pucker your ass once bullets start flying, or after that zombie hit that brings you under 3k blood. Unforgiving game, is unforgiving. Frustration only comes from inability to join a server. I don't have the figures to say if it really is an issue for "a huge chunk of players" or not. Neither do you. One or two cases, do not make a statistic. I could be wrong, but so far you are not right either. Aside from in game bugs, what aspects of this game that kill you, are exactly outside of the player's control? Play a bit more into the game, and once you have zombies figured out, its all player vs. player. Zombies are NOT a risk any more. Getting gear is NOT an issue any more either. An hour, tops, and you will have EVERYTHING you need. Map, compass, matches, hatchet, knife, water, food, pistol, rifle and decent amount of ammo, as well as bandages and painkillers. So at this point, what is the point of this game? Survival? You have EVERYTHING you need. Zombie hunt? They are dumb as door nails. Its a turkey shoot. Exploration? The map is big, but for playing on it, over and over and over again... its not that big. You know all the spots, all the loot points, good and bad cities/villages, military camps, etc. Team play? In a sense, yes. You are enjoying an experience with your friends. But, that experience still boils down to the above points, or the one below. Player vs. Player? Now that is one element that stays unpredictable and fun. But what is the fun of dispatching your foe, if he just reconnects and in half an hour, can already come after you? What is the fun in playing as a group, if one of your buddies dies, and all you have to do is grab a car and pick him up at the beach? How is this different from just spawning in a deathmatch, just somewhat far away? This mod has become just a game, instead of an EXPERIENCE. Granted, it is still an experience to new players, but again, play a bit more, and once you figure out how the game behaves behind the curtains, it just becomes another frag fest, rather than survival. I'm not saying that this idea is an absolute win, as a matter of fact I'm pretty sure it will never be implemented precisely because of all the whining and crying that is going to happen if it were to be tried. Hopefully it will give some food for thought to the developers. I've read that initial concept of the mod was just an experiment. It became so successful BECAUSE it went outside of the normal and expected of the regular game. We have games with zombies. We have shooters. ARMA has been here for a number of years. However, its this idea of unforgiving environment as well as unforgiving death, that brought this mod such popularity. Its new, its unexplored, its exciting.

Well first, it wouldn't be permanent, so regarding friends and clans, you can still play with them after you die, just not right away. Lets say the server locks you out for 6 hours. This way, if you die during you clan game, where you are looting, infiltrating, or just putzing around on the server, for THAT particular session, you are lost to them. As you should be, if you are dead. However you can freely join them for next day's session. In regards to finding a decent server... well again. I'm pretty sure you all have at least a couple of servers that you like, and that proven to you to be reliable in ping and lag. Yes there is always a chance that the servers will be full, but you know what.... tough beans. Don't get killed. Otherwise, just hop to the next reliable server. It is not "punishing" a player. If you die... you die. I believe this upholds the initial idea that Rocket had for this mod. When we die, we respawn with nothing. Its a new character, new life. Of course this being an online GAME, people easily find ways around that, where they set up stashes, camps, clans, etc.... Which is fine for the bigger picture of the game, but works against in smaller scale, such as one life of a player. So if you die, you shouldn't have access RIGHT AWAY, to the things from previous life. Again, the lock out should not be permanent, just enough time, for player to feel like they starting anew.

Same thing. Was able to log in and play as soon as the patch came out, then server stopped spawning loot, I disconnected. After that I wasn't able to join any server so far, getting same "waiting for character to create"... I'm getting a feeling my character will be wiped as well... Started out as a new chracter right after the patch though, so not super gear, but enough to continue a comfortable living. :*(

I'm having same exact problem, HOWEVER I updated to 1.7.2 as soon as it came out, and was able to join a server right away. Played for a few hours from a new character (old one died right before the patch). Everything WAS working great. However at a certain point, server stopped spawning loot. I figured I'll just hop servers. As soon as I disconnected and tried to reconnect to a different server, I started to get "Loading Character" screen.. No luck joining ANY server since then. Also as a side now, while I was playing the new patch, some of the zombies were frozen in place without reacting to me (ran up to one), while other zombies would spawn correctly, moving and reacting. Seems to be pretty random.

Well, title says it all. It does pertain mostly to the beginning of a new character. Until I get a decent backpack, I forgo any primary weapons, for a hatchet. It is silent, so no agroing nearby zombies. Ammo count is almost unlimited, and even if you do manage to run out, they are plenty more of them around. I also don't have to carry additional ammo for primary weapon, which frees up slots in my inventory. You really just need to know how to use it. It might be tough to use it against a zombie train, but one on one or even 2 and 3 on one, its very effective. When zombie first agros on you, he tends to run in circle around you. All you have to do, is to turn and keep him in your sights. Then start backing away from him. Zombies stop before they hit you, and then there is a pause before they hit you again. Hatchet's range is pretty decent, so you don't really need to be face to face with a zombie. A good few feet is a plenty. On most servers crosshair does not show for the hatchet, but it should be in the center of the screen, and you don't need to be precise with it. After some trial and error, you'll get the hang of the timing. It really is like fencing. You wait for your opponent's opening, and you strike. Other time you are backing away from them, as if guarding. I am now carrying hatchet as my primary weapon, with a revolver as a side weapon vs. players. Of course this has its drawbacks. I'm more vulnerable again human opponent. If I don't have a rifle, I don't have the range to stay safe. But honestly, unless you are actively snipping, most of the encounters happen within a pistol's distance. Also, zombies do tend to sneak a punch through, from time to time, be that due to a lag or frame drop, but I do get hit occasionally. Also with a high chance of zombie braking your leg, every encounter up close, you are risking. But even with all these drawbacks, at this stage I prefer hatchet to a rifle, for the first stage of my character's development.

frag grenade by someone who was pretty close by, and you didn't see. Lag was probably the reason why there was a delay between explosion and all of you dying.

I've been reading about this new feature of Bandit' heartbeat, where you should be able to hear their heartbeat, depending on how many murders they've committed. From the stuff that I've read, it seemed that you need to be pretty close to the guy to hear. However I've been playing today, and got to Berezino. There was definitely something going on right before I go there. There were dead zombies all over the place, some of the entrances were bared of with the wire, etc. As I was crawling over the place (broken leg) I kept hearing the heartbeat. Now I haven't found anybody, nor anybody took a shot at me, although I was pretty loud. Heartbeat would go louder or quieter depending on my position in the town, and sometimes the direction I was facing. It might have been a bug, where a bandit left the server but the heartbeat stayed. Maybe something like with the buzzing flies, even though no bodies are left.

It was slow, buddum.... buddum... buddum... And yes, the blood level was very low, under 3k i believe. Was it my own heart? But then why was it going quieter from time to time? I don't think I've heard it before, and I've had low blood levels a few times.

Yes, zombies spawn on top of your head from thin air. What worse, is that the calculations that take place, to see where you are in the world, and then to start spawning zombies, most of the time lag. This could be a good and a bad thing. Good thing, is if you are lucky and fast, you can get in and out before game even spawns any zombies. Bad thing, is that if you are fast but unlucky, you will have 3-4 zeds spawn right on top of your ass.

I just discovered this today. So ammo and magazine are separate things in ARMA. You can have same type of bullet, but in different types of magazines. So you would have same round for revolver AND 1911 but it can be packed in separate types of magazines. It seems that when you have rounds packed into a 1911 mag you can't use them if you are firing a revolver, HOWEVER instead of dumping that ammo, right click on it, and it will give you an option to repack it for revolver. If I knew that, I would have been picking up all those 1911 mags along the way, when I had the revolver. ... the more you know.