Zetal

Hey Guys, I just kind of wanted to dump my thoughts on this topic here. For those of you that don't know, it's been pretty much conclusively shown that a mix of FPS/Ping determines your characters run speed. It's around this point that I'm wondering if there's a direct relationship between computer performance and perceived difficulty levels? Over the many months I've played DayZ, I'd say that it's always been anything BUT difficult. Even as far as players are concerned, I almost never died to them save many once in a week of playing, and only because I'd been a bit of a stooge. Yet many people have very hard times with the game and considering the consistency with which the complaints crop up I'm starting to wonder how much of it is playstyle and how much of it is purely game performance? If you can't unrun the zombies, the game would HAVE to be awful. So, I'm asking the community. Do you find DayZ hard? And if you do/don't, what's your typical FPS/Ping??? For science, my friends! Zetal Original post: http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/48958-run-speed-variance/

Has anyone else noticed how drastic character speeds will vary from time-to-time? Initially, I thought it was related to the stats/condition of the character, but increasingly, it doesn't seem to be the case. (Well-fed, Unthirsty, 42C character running slower than a starving, dying one) After that, I thought it might have been the weight of gear slowing down character, but that isn't it either. After some brief testing, I think I might have discovered the cause- a mixture of performance and network connectivity. Friend A is experiencing major lag in forests, due to rendering foliage. He runs slower. Friend B experiences medium lag, but still runs fine and moves faster than Friend A. Friend A looks straight up into the sky, resulting in a 20+ FPS boost, and, ironically, also starts outrunning Friend B. ... Thoughts? Is this just coincidence, or is the game really that strange?

I guess the most I can say is that I look forward to the standalone fixing this issue. Serverside zombies ftw!

Ah sorry, I didn't mean to suggest players should engage zombies in the open. It was just meant as a 'simplified' version. To reiterate, if you can funnel zombies through a door, it should be very simple to not take any damage. Certainly in the open it's very difficult to maintain the 'no damage taken' status, but it's also not very hard to find a house whenever you have zombies trailing you. A combination of the three methods I listed in my own post and the tips by the fine man I just quoted should keep you alive, guys. Get to surviving! Oooh... A hint! Hmm... Sleeping in a tent? Resting by a fire?

I've just found that in the past if you confront someone about something you think they've done that is stupid, and get to know them, they usually have pretty good reasoning behind it- or if they don't, they're charming while they're about it. Some of my friends are genuinely awful at dodging zombies- but they know that it's their fault, so they don't complain about it. They know that if they were playing differently, they'd survive better. But if people are complaining about it... Well, doesn't that seem to suggest that they feel there is nothing they can do? So it becomes my interest to find out why that is.

Normally I'd ignore it, but with how easily I've handled the zombies in the past and even now, after the buffs, Yet others... well, I want to think the best of people. If it's a result of performance issues, then it makes zombies very difficult to balance, wouldn't you say?

That's what I've always thought as well, but it's possible that FPS or playing in a group might influence it as well. If one player has fast zombies, and the other has slow, wouldn't they catch the slower player? Maybe even hit them? I don't know. I'm just curious- to see if people have had this happen to them.

Ah right, sorry. I made a topic awhile back asking people if they'd experienced similar stuff based on my own observations. I'll add a link to the main post.

Step 1: Find Building Step 2: Stand in the middle of the building Step 3: Wait for zombies to catch up (May take up to 30 seconds, since they aren't very bright) Step 4: Run away. Step 5: Congrats, you now have no more zombies chasing you! Alternative: Step 1: Find Hatchet Step 2: Never take damage from zombies again! Hooray! Alternative 2: Step 1: Find steep hill Step 2: Climb steep hill Step 3: Run in straight line Step 4: Congrats, you now have no more zombies chasing you! This isn't that hard, guys. Rolling back... Ugh. You're kidding, right?

The 'Save Tent' option is a manual way to save your tent. It isn't needed, as the game is designed to autosave tents. However, it was readded in this version since some people were still having issues.

you're so silly~ =) I've played the current version. I haven't even gotten hit by a zombie yet. Maybe you should learn how to play some day, young man. Then you will find the old saying "A good craftsman never blames his tools" actually got popular for a reason.

I did! :D

I think that's about as vague as you can get lol Even with the bugs, I'd say it's a vast improvement- zombies are harder, loot is more evenly distributed...etc

Even with this patch, the zombies aren't that bad. I'm not trying to flame you, I'm not calling you bad or anything like that when I say this- revise your playstyle. If you're dying to zombies, you're doing something wrong. Plain, simple, and to the point. Zombies aren't much of a threat to players that know what they're doing. They're only a threat to those that don't know how to deal with them, just like they would be in a true zombie apocalypse.

Bahaha, just ended my hour playsession by finding a helicopter. Think that sounds awesome? I got in, then got out to refuel it and died instantly. The thing ran me over. I got out, and the game decided to plunk me down INSIDE of the helicopter. Instakilled. Silly DayZ, helicopter isn't door!

Thoughts: Zombies are still kind've a pushover, as you can still very easily lose them with the aid of a single building, but it's definitely a very impressive and positive step in the right direction. Freshspawned in on a server with ~30 people in it, got an axe + food/water and headed inland. Been playing for about 45 minutes and I haven't actually gotten hit by a zombie yet. I did get shot at, but fortunately they missed. (whew!) So overall this update is very nice, but the axe still makes zombies very easy to fight against; maybe too easy. If all the zombies were the 'viral' zeds- now that would be amazing. <3

Ah, see, I downgraded. I assumed it was some sort of mixup with the versions. I should upgrade again, then?

If that's the case, someone should update the main post. The first line says specifically to "USE THIS ARMA 2 OA BETA: 103419"

When someone asks for directions, it's one thing to tell them to take a right down the road. You're, figuratively speaking, off the road in an upside down car and missing all four of your wheels when it comes to installing this manually. If you really want help, add me on Skype and I can help there, but it would take way too many posts to sort you out on a forum.

The pushover Zombies have always seriously bothered me, so I wrote up a really basic mod for DayZ that changes a few minor things: General Changes (I don't really remember all of the changes I made, but here's the most noteworthy stuff) - Harder Zombies -> ++++Slightly more health, slightly more damage, slightly more range, slightly more accurate. Nothing extreme here, but enough to make a big difference. - Smarter Zombie AI -> ++++Their AI tracks you with superhuman abilities. Zombies won't be getting confused by bushes any time soon with this mod, but don't expect any miracles. This is still just a basic mod. - Nerfed Melee Weapons -> ++++One man with an axe won't be able to kill the population of Cherno twice over any more. You stand a chance still... and even better if you get headshots. - Minor Loot Chance Alterations -> ++++The axe is more rare, and certain other ease-inducing items have been made more rare as well. - More Zombies -> (Surprisingly minor network hit. Hmm..) ++++The average zombie count has been doubled, and their spawn algorithm has been changed to spawn at the edge of player vision. Less abrupt spawning, overall. Please read! A personal message from me: This mod isn't kind- but I don't play DayZ to be coddled. I didn't make this mod because I thought a lot of people would like it- I just made it for me and my friends, because I knew we would enjoy it. Still, I feel like there might be like-minded people out there, and for those people I wanted to make this topic. In it's current state, I'm happy with where the mod stands. It makes the game challenging and brings me back to the early days of playing DayZ, when living was a challenge. I don't see that feeling fading away for me any time soon, with the changes I've made. If the mod gains popularity, which may or may not happen, probably not with only a very basic Hamachi server- (and not even one new gun to sate the CoD fans!) but if it does, then I would be fully willing to continue trying to develop the mod into a more entertaining DayZ. I also expect I'll continue development into Standalone, should modding be as easy as it is now. I'm hosting a small server over a Hamachi network at the moment. If you want access to the server, you can add me on Skype at 'Zetalix' or send me a private message here. If you run into any issues, let me know. This is my first release of something like this, but I want to try and help you have fun. Installation/Download: I included a readme.txt file inside of the .zip file here: http://www.mediafire...up3b786sihp7l3a How to Join my Test Server: Hamachi Network: CruelZ Open Password: None How To Join Server: Once you've joined the Hamachi network, open up the CruelZ modded Arma 2 OA and use the Remote connection to connect to: IP Address: 25.170.148.99 Port: 2302 Server Password = 'NoEntry' without the 's Thank you for your time, Zetal

:D I'm really glad to hear you liked it. I'll probably be updating this for 1.7.7 once I have more free time.

@Tajjuk "I would like to..." Oh agreed, I would not be feeling very good after that for sure. This change, however, isn't meant for players. Neither is the axe in the first place. In the ~100 servers I've played on, I've used the Axe in PVP maybe...oh, idk.. twice comes immediately to mind? Got a double kill with it the first time (the fools were just sitting there crouched, so I just got headshots and moved on), and axed some poor guy in the butt until he died as he crawled under a wall in Cherno. The axe is pretty much just a PvE weapon based on it's skill set. Any player with sound on their game can hear you crouching up next to them, and if they have a gun you lose if they spot you. I use the axe nearly constantly, but not against players. "Like I said on the other thread...easily tricked." Easily tricked is going a bit far in the current version, seeing as I can literally lose zombies on...well..other zombies. It's laughable, is what it is. Bushes are silly, too. These people may be ill, but Dean Hall referred to them as 'apex predators.' Would an apex predator get confuzzled by a bush and start hugging it? C'mon, don't be silly. "More health makes..." I was a little reluctant about the stat changes, so this explanation is going to be a bit different. The changes I made were meant to compensate for their current pathfinding AI. I'm sure you've noticed, but in their current state, zombies will run about flailing useless, and 9 times out of 10 they'll get to you, stop, swing their arms, only to miss. You can actually stop, take your time to aim, and all the while they'll be "attacking" you when really they're hitting nothing but air. Do you know how unimmersive that is? "The game isn't really..."." These zombies can be mastered. On the server that I'm running, I've fixed up a helicopter, completely refueled it, and stashed it away. You know why? There are only 3-4 other players on the server that play every so often. Not terrible for an experimental server but at the same time, it's hard to run an experiment without ideal numbers. I'm a lone player. I do pretty well for myself- except I actually die every so often, as opposed to pretty much never dying like in the vanilla. Getting zombies chasing you shouldn't be an inconvenience that you shrug off by waving at a nearby bush, it should be a matter of life and death, just like it actually would be to get an Apex Predator chasing you. "I agree to..." I agree to that as well. But I don't respect the zombies right now. I don't see myself respecting them until A) their pathfinding is fixed (ie standalone, not the Mod) or B) all of these changes are implemented, or the dayzmod devs stun me with a brilliant solution that I haven't seen thus far. But this mod isn't all about the zombies. The changes are, yes, but this mod is Cruel. It's hard. Once you adapt to the true post-apocalypse, then you deal with players. Players that don't fire military assault rifles at survivors in cities for fear of getting swarmed, players that make contact with other survivors for the good of each other, and a game environment that is more authentic. At least, that's how I feel. Thanks for your reply! Zetal

I'd like to ask to anyone that visits the server or tries the mod to please post your feedback here! Thank you!

I acknowledge that as your opinion, but all that tells me is that you aren't using it right, since it works for me 90% of the time. It's just like any other weapon in DayZ- you need to practice to be good with it. I have had a lot of practice. Timing your strikes with when the zombies are standing still, knowing the range of their attacks (you can stand outside of their range, and still hit them with an axe. Foul!) and aiming for the center of their body guarantees a hit every single swing. Again, if you have any disagreements PLEASE take it to the CruelZ mod topic. I'd be more than happy to discuss the changes I've made there, but doing it here is a quick and easy way to get offtopic. Any replies that i've made that are offtopic are simply for the purposes of correcting others mistakes.

You can't just 'leave the Hatchet' alone. It's completely overpowered. It makes the Zombies into what they are now- complete pushovers. I-... Look., this isn't the place to argue this. I posted what I posted because I tested it out. I know how it plays- I played it, so don't post your suppositions on how you think it would ruin gameplay, because I've tried that gameplay. If you disagree with me that's fine, but take the discussion here, instead. No need to clog up the Patch Notes. http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/136821-new-custom-mod-cruelz-very-basic-much-harder/