Bribase

Are you slowly becoming a liberal? You seem to have changed the subject of your posts from a criticism of an Arma 2 mod to some kind of missinformed rant about the US economy. By your own logic, this should make you a liberal fan of Barack Obama, right?

I'm having a hard time finding a part of this post that isn't changing the subject or name calling.

Not all servers have it switched on but left shift and left click adds a waypoint, this shows up on the hud on some servers but not all. Don't get used to it because I suspect at it's likely to be removed for good soon. It's a very un-Day Z element of the game. There are rumours that other map owners can see your waypoint and thus know where you're heading. That might be paranoind bullshit though.

A great discovery, Powell. And I think that the game will likely move towards this style of play as it develops. I suspect that their will be a movement disadvantage for heavily loaded players, them not being able to maintain a good sprint for very long or simply not being able to run at all. Or maybe a deus-ex style inventory system (it worked so well in both games) so a 50cal weapon with ammo might mean one can of beans and no sidearm. I think that since Rocket wants to avoid an imposed class system like TF2 or Tribes from spawn he'll likely create a system where managing your inventory and loadout becomes more important than having a high tear weapon. Simple limitations on inventory space and movement will mean making tough decisions like "Want a 50cal rifle? try running for longer than 1 minute" or "want an axe for firewood? Then you will be fast but rifles are out of the question". This means that instead of very simple rules about weapons; pistols if you raid cities, assault rifles if you loot towns and sniper rifles if you PvP. The inventory system will shape the playstyle; lone wolf survivalists can't be skilled marksmen, players with heavy ordinance will have to team up with someone with a short ranged weapon and players with mid ranged assault weapons and a sidearm will have little space for food,aid and survival equipment. This way the RPG elements will emerge in a very organic way. Not arbitrarily imposed but integral to the inventory system.

The cool thing about this is a wider variety of heights changes the infected mechanic in some subtle but very significant ways. At the moment a player has to account for three different heights for garanteed one-shot kills corresponding to walkers, hoppers and crawlers but changing the models into three different heights, say young adults, stooped over elderly and slightly shorter females, each able to hop,walk and crawl means a player needing to account for multiple heads at multiple heights. I'm sure everyone has had a huge group of infected follow you into a building, you pull out your sidearm, aim it at the correct height and wait for the headshots to come to you, occasionally checking to see if a hopper has made an appearance. With Zeds of differing heights you have to actually track and prioritise your shots and account for multiple heghts. Making defending yourself in a choke point a challenge again.

There's nothing about these "infected" that stops them from healing, they are not the undead. They'll wither away a la 28 Days later because they don't eat or drink and that would happen quite quickly. it takes an average person around ten days to die from dehydration, a rage filled infected with the agility they have been shown to have would deteriorate a little faster I think. But up until that point muscle mass is still muscle mass and being old and infirm, young and weak or flabby and wheezy still applies.

I wrote about this in another thread. I'm in a similar position, having a DMR in a coyote backpack but I don't like to keep such sought after loot strapped to my backpack or in my hands. the coyote stores it and three mags with plenty of space for other provisions. I keep a simple AK-74 in my hands or equip my M1911 to keep a lower profile. Swapping out primaries is quick and easy as long as you know what you're doing. The thing is, I don't play in a squad so using the DMR to cover a buddy from an overwatch position when he infiltrates is out. And I don't PvP so the DMR is pretty much useless unless I take it up. It'll come in useful at some point though. Hold on to it, you'll never know when you might want some range on your target, player or otherwise.

I've been waiting for years for a sandbox survival game with the clunky gunplay mechanics and oppressive atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It's really not about the infected, they could be legions of disgruntled housecats for all I care. It's about the interaction between players, the search for loot, juggling your thirst, hunger and temperature, the constant fear, the oppressive atmosphere and the weighing up of risk vs reward. As MeatAbstract says, the OP can't see past the PvP mechanic so he thinks that's all there is and will ever be to the game.

Day Z is about emergent gameplay. You develop your own playstyle and loadout as you progress, your game writes itself in the choices you make and the situations as they arise. The complexity of the game will increase exponentially as Rocket introduces new elements and players learn to use them in novel ways. Unfortunately, since your grasp of the game's scope is as tenuous as your grasp of grammar I recommend you play something more suited to your tastes like one of the thousands of corridor shooters out there. That way you won't be burdened with having to make decisions for yourself beyond "shoot man with gun".

Keep two morphine shots on you, one in your pocket and one in your pack. More if you're in a squad. They spawn at military loot drops now so no need to brave the city. Raid deer stands from behind, infected tend to walk into open areas and away from woodland. You can sneak in easily if you approach from the ladder side. The new build means more chance of aggro but the new sound scheme means picking up less aggro and losing the ones you do aggro if you have to run. A good way to raid mid level loot drops like churches, large residences and supermarkets is to stealth as far as you can until you are aggroed and make your way at top speed to the choke point of your destination. Walk alongside roads, not on them. If the road has a hill on one side walk on the lower side, you'll cut LOS to you by 180 degrees and snipers will have a hard time zeroing their shots up a hill as opposed to on flat. Use discipline when you're selecting weapons. If you have to throw something make sure you switch back to your weapon immedeately. You don't want to be stuck in a throw animation while a Zed pounds the crap out of you. Learn whats available on the server because they vary, especially in terms of map use. Some servers allow waypoints to show on your HUD, some even show your position as a blue dot and arrow, for some servers a map is just a map and is useless without gps or a compass. Don't get used to waypoints either because they're bound to be edited out of the game entirely soon.

Is it really possible to claim DayZ hipsterhood if you're one of 600,000 players?

Not clicking on the pics. i want finding a dog to be a big suprise!

I had a few ideas for infected that aren't sci-fi or magical, just slightly different. How about soldiers that can be shot in the face but nowhere else in the head because of their helmets. I love the idea of an infected that incidentally had armour on when they turned, slowly walking towards you as round after round ricochets off of his helmet. The zombie in question oblivious to it. How about another Zed that's the opposite? One wearing body armour but no helmet, make him part of the domestic police force armed response unit that they called in before martial law was declared and the army rolled in. Make rounds to his body slow him down and his legs crippleable but a headshot the only way to kill one outright. I also had an idea for a "Sentry" infected. A Zed that sits high on rooftops, his elevated position giving him better vision than other Zeds (let's say 1.7.2 standards). When he sees you he draws in a breath and then screams at the top of his voice (deafeningly loud and shit-your-pants scary), when he does it brings the horde to your position like you fired an Enfield in the 1.7.1.5 build, other zeds zero you regardless of LOS. Make him easy to kill but quite hard to spot and a priority target if you're trying to stealth your way into town. Aside from that, I'd love to see a variation in general to the movement of the Zeds. Why not make some Zeds as athletic as they are now but maybe make some do their characteristic zig zags, some run straight for you and some just go batshit crazy and make erratic movements like run straight past you and come in from behind. What about making the Zeds as fast but very clumsy? Making them turn sharply while chasing you could make them stumble or fall over completely, make some able to dive (vault) low fences but some get stuck and some tumble over because they didn't see it. They are territorial and full of rage so they move fast and with a single thing on their minds, but make them clumsy idiots too. Don't make them identifiable, just make their movements vary and be the luck of the draw.

Pripyat. Day Z is S.T.A.L.K.E.R esque but shouldn't plan on ripping it off completely. I've spent hours in the zone but I dont want another game set there.

They are living people who have been infected with some kind of pathogen that makes them disinhibited and full of rage. They aren't the undead. Think Danny Boyle, not George Romero.

How about a non-lethal melee with the butt of your gun? Remember that these are infected, not undead and their crania take a lot of bashing. Not the sort of thing a person can do with a blunt, wooden object like a gun butt. But the melee could force them to stumble back. This should open up spaces in doorways to make an escape or buy you some time to pull out your pistol.

Aren't they switched on in some servers and some off? I know a private hive server that has them.

I was thinking about putting this in suggestions but the limitations on the Arma engine may make most of these things impossible. Nontheless, I think it would be fun to cobble together elements from other games to make a perfect hypothetical Day Z. Here goes: Day Z with the blood effects of Overgrowth (also in Alpha) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Xrmgsz76Yc

How about the Ragdoll animations of Rage?

No way on the fluidity. You're supposed to be the furthest thing from a Nanosuited supersoldier in Day Z. The mechanics are meant to be as awkward as they are because you're meant to be a survivalist, not a marksman.

It's not about what he can code. Zed, do you have a blood effect vid that you'd prefer?

I've murdered almost no one. When I can, I notice them before they notice me, I duck behind cover and announce myself. If they reply I leave cover and talk, if they dont I mostly stay hidden, change my position and make sure they leave. I get killed a lot but I dont plan on changing my playstyle.

Can you find me an example of a better one?

Don't turn to face the person you are speaking to. Come in close but alongside them with your head turned and your muzzle pointing away and past them. Lower your weapon if it's your primary. Look over your shoulder as you take your leave. Don't run backwards while staring at them, switch to third and make sure they are moving on as well. I've been shot in the back before, often after exchanging goods and information or administering aid. Get out of LOS as quickly as possible after you leave. The player will become nervous if you hide in the bushes 30m away and he'll have the drop on you if you stroll away casually. It's for the best if both parties leave quickly, get behind hard cover and never see each other again. Be wary of how you look to the other player. Don't fraternise with players that have worse loot than you. That's not to be snobbish, some people will shoot the breeze for a while and even collaborate with you long enough to hear about that high tear rifle you keep in your pack. I play a lone female character at the moment, I've had some lucky breaks after a lot of travelling and have netted a DMR (legit, from a heli drop, not a murder) which I keep in my Coyote backpack until I need it, keeping a simple AK-74 equipped instead. I'm even thinking of downgrading to an ALICE pack to lower my perceived profile. The further North you get, the more wary you should be of people with lower tear loot. People who are booking it up North with crappy loot are either reckless and want to get back in the action as quickly as possible or have just died and are joining their bandit squad, both are people to be feared. The guy that looks set up well enough to be self sufficient needs nothing and would probably appreciate the company, the guy that looks like he'd have a hard time surviving in the remote areas up North by himself probably isn't by himself.

Getting out of a tractor that clipped into a flint wall.