Tom212

Gear Note: This is a extract from my starter guide which I will post on the forum soon, quite in depth but it seemed like something that needed covering as so many new players have issues with it. Please rate this thread! Now my pedigree chums orientating yourself and starting to move is all well and good, however I am sorry to tell you...You are not going to be leaving this place, this dirty and rather backward ex-soviet bloc country will be where you spend your final days. The sooner you come to terms to the fact you can no longer have bubble baths while listening to Abba the sooner we can all move along in this process. Now as we will not be leaving this place you will need to gather and store supplies to keep alive yes? Well this is why we have our gear. Gear is the name for a menu that shows all the items carried on your player, everything from food to weapons (your inventory if you must). While I cannot argue the gear menu is a lovely little thing it is however quite complicated to a player who is new to ARMA and never played a game of the series, in addition it also has a few bugs and below you may find tips on using the gear to avoid falling victim to these. Lets take a closer look... The Layout: Ok to view the Gear menu you need to press the "G" key by default, be aware when using the gear menu your character enters a animation which is him bending down and placing his hands on the floor as if picking something up. Ok, please avert your gaze to the picture above. This picture shows you what you will see upon opening your gear menu. As you can see it is split into a number of panels, I have labelled some aspects with coloured circles. Note the thing to remember with the gear is that every slot is restricted to hold a specific type of item. (With exception to the backpacks.) Ok lets start on the right side, the green circle shows the two slots in the top left and right. These slots will hold binoculars and night vision googles, nothing else. Below that in the red circle you have two rectangular slots on the left side. The one with the M4 inside stores your current primary weapon. The slot below that holds a backpack as shown. Now to the right of that you have 12 magazine slots, in Day Z these slots will hold all your general goods such as food, some forms of medication, tents, flares etc, etc in addition to primary weapon magazines and grenades. Below that in the yellow circle you have a medium sized slot in the top left with a pistol inside. This slot holds sidearms, in Day Z this includes flashlights. To the right of that you have 8 secondary magazine slots, these store secondary weapon magazines. In Day Z these slots also hold bandages as you can see in the picture. Below these you have 12 accessory slots, these hold items such as maps, compasses, watches, hunting knives and matchboxes. Now on the far left you have the black circle. This tab here gives a overview of your gear, it lists all the items you have on your person and the numbers on the right indicate their quantity. There are no numbers on the left in this picture however in the coming pictures you will see some, numbers on the left indicate the quantity of a item in a container you are examining. If there is a item in the list with only numbers on the left and none on the right you currently have no items of this type on your person but they are in the container. This covers all the gear you hold on your person however you spawn with a backpack and will find better quality backpacks as you travel around and these allow you to store even more goodies, yay... Backpacks: Opening your backpack? No zips here in ARMA land, to open your backpack select your backpack in the gear by left clicking the backpack slot highlighted in red in the picture above. Then simply click the open bag button highlighted in yellow. Now that you have opened your back pack you see a very similar setup as you would if you were picking items up. On the top of the left tab, highlighted in red above, you can see the space/capacity of your backpack. The number on the left in this case 7 tells you how many free slots you have in your bag, the number on the right tells you the total number of slots in your bag. Now to see what is in your backpack you just look at the numbers on the left (in the main left panel), remember the numbers on the right are what you have on your person. Highlighted in blue are some of these numbers showing my backpack has 2 cans of baked beans among a few other items. Now moving stuff from your backpack to your active gear and vice versa is simple, lets say I want to move a can of baked beans from my active gear into my backpack. First thing you need to do is to select it, as it is in my active gear I can do this two ways 1 by selecting it in its slot by left clicking (highlighted in yellow). The second option is to select the baked beans item in the list on the left. When selected, using either method, the item name will be highlighted in the list on the left. Now all I need to do is to press the arrow on the left to move a quantity of 1 baked beans from my inventory (the right side) to the bag (the left side). No matter whether you are putting items in your backpack from your active gear or vice versa, make sure your destination has space otherwise the item will be lost :( . Also note that backpacks can hold any type of item, even weapons, however keep in mind items such as weapons take up more than 1 slot of space. Dropping Items: Dropping is simple, move to a clear space of ground with no items to avoid complications and press G to open gear. Then either double click the item in your active inventory you would like to drop or select it and hit the drop button at the bottom of the interface. Note you cannot drop items from your backpack directly to the ground, you must first take it from your bag to your active gear and then drop but make sure your bag is closed whenever you are dropping items. Picking up items: Now my friends the last thing to cover on this most interesting subject is the skillful art of picking items up. You must be both athletic and flexible if you are to succeed at this task but most are capable. First step, you need to find something you want to pick up, such as these beans I have found (shown in the picture above). Now you have found what you want to examine/pickup you need to open the container's gear menu, this may not seem like much of a container since it's on the ground but a container is a term for a group of items and you must open their specific gear menu otherwise you will just be looking at the floor. To open the gear menu for these beans I must move towards the items and have the objects in the center of my screen, I will then receive a gear option in my action menu shown in the red circle and a icon will appear on my screen. This may seem simple however be prepared for the occasional struggle as it can be quite suprisingly difficult to get the action for a specific group of items due to other game objects being nearby. If you are completely stuck always try going prone (lying down) to avoid objects blocking the target and move closer to get the action. But believe me there are times where even myself, wow I know right, has to move on and give up. Now I have opened the gear menu for these beans and may now take the tasty beans! (Picture above) The numbers on the left of the left list tab show you what is on the floor, now I want to take the tin of baked beans. I simply select the baked beans item in the list and then click the right arrow to move it into my active inventory. Now you do not necessarily have to take items from the ground into your active gear, if you wish you may put a item straight into your backpack if you have room. Its is the same method as opening your backpack normally, select it and click open. (Picture above) However there is a difference, when viewing containers if you open your backpack you get a overview of it on the right as you can see here. This gives a visual representation of the contents rather than the list. Simply move the items from the floor into you backpack as if it was your active gear. Notes and tips on avoiding bugs! Now you are experts in the fine arts of pocket management! Congratulations, you deserve a victory pint! Now just a few other things to note: Beware of swimming, you may lose your gear. Yes, there is a chance gear will drop if you are swimming. This obviously brings the dihlema of filling your water bottle at inland sources where you must swim to get the action, personally I just check the area is clear or have a friend cover me and leave my gear near the water while I swim to be on the safe side. Dropping gear, if you are dropping gear with the intent of picking it up again its defiently worth spending a few seconds finding a nice clear or flat spot to drop it. This avoids losing equipment in grass, some bugs which lose items in terrain and having other game objects such as some types of bush and grass blocking the action therefore stopping recovery. It is also worth dropping different types of gear in different spots, e.g. when I drop my gear to swim I find a flat spot and then drop my bag in one place and my weapons and ammo in another as I have had bugs due to grouping items with bags. Also be careful of dropping items in places like towers and some ground floors of buildings as items can appear under the floor sometimes. Biggest mistake new players make! Make sure you have space in your backpack before moving items into it, same goes for taking items from your bag to your active inventory! This will usually delete the item as it just seems to disappear! Keep in mind some bigger items like parts and tents take up multiple slots so may not fit in your bag if you only have 1 slot. For similar reasons in addition to a few other bugs avoid using the "Take" action on items, e.g. do not select "Take M1911" but instead just use "gear" and pick it up that way, much safer. However some items cannot be taken through gear such as tents. SWAPPING backpacks, the best method to swap a backpack is to drop your current pack. You can do this by selecting it in your active inventory and using the drop button like it was any other item. Be sure to make sure this is in a flat open space as covered above to avoid it bugging. Pick up the backpack you wish to swap for, then move over to your old backpack you dropped on the floor. You will get a option to open the backpack on the floor, this allows you to now empty the contents of your old bag directly into your new one without fiddling around. Hmm I have more notes I meant to insert here but can't think of them now, keep an eye on this and I will update it! Hope this was useful and remember to check out my entire guide when I release it!

If its in your active gear and you want to put it in your backpack its easy, you have 12 slots, by this you can tell how much a certain object is taking up, generally it should be easy to tell just by looking at the icon. However I am afraid there is no real solution to this if you want to take it straight into your backpack, while its on the floor you just cannot tell. If I am not sure I just make a generous amount of room, such as 5 slots and then pick it up. Sorry I can't be more helpful but there is really no other way around this.

I am afraid the ARMA engine can be buggy regarding accessing the gear of other entities. You will have to move around, try using freelook to get the option. My last attempt is always to go prone and move in close to the object as this often gets you past any objects blocking the action. You can also try simply pressing G, but you should be getting the option.

Added' date=' thanks for the feedback! Check the bottom of the tips if you are still having trouble with it. :) To take weapons from a dead player you need to look at their body until you get the "gear" option, from here you can see their active gear. To then take a weapon you may take it like any other item, by double clicking the weapon to move it into your active gear (this will auto equip it and swap it for any weapon you currently have in this slot placing the old weapon on the dead person). You can also put weapons into backpacks but beware they take more than 1 slot.

Perhaps this has already been made, if not here's a idea I had. When you log-out your character stays on the map for a short period of time, like in some MMO's. Meaning you must log-out in a safe place otherwise you could be killed. Hopefully stopping people logging out in PvP. I understand this obviously brings the issue of people losing connection in towns full of zombies but yeah, I don't know. Just a idea! Perhaps you could also have a option to "logout" and like MMO's you can watch as a timer goes down before you logout so you can be sure when you are actually not in PvP combat that you are not going to be dead when you log back in.

We are talking more about general firefights.

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=951&pid=9187#pid9187

To be fair although looking over his post a little more rested I see your point about the tone of the thread, it still is not very insulting. Yes it is a aggressive way to put forward a opinion but if you did not agree with it you shouldn't have made your response to call him a "dick" and continue a rather dull argument. IF you do not agree with his post, which was like I said quite a well presented set of points you should simply then make a intelligent response in the form of a few points why PvP is a good thing. By derailing a topic and giving rather short reasons for pro-pvp without backing them up. I personally am Pro-PvP and do not want to see it removed however when people refuse to give explained posts like mine to combat these opinions it just makes us look like we are in the wrong.

Anyone else got any opinions on this suggestion?

Bump.

People really are aggressive when it comes to people discussing their opinion on this forum aren't they lol, not that I disagree.

Once again strange as mine and Griff's appear to just be disappearing altogether.

Yeah, a large number of the gaming community - some now being attracted to ARMA for this mod, are used to the coventional FPS. While yes the ARMA engine may seem fiddly, it is also much, much more excitingly tactical. ARMA RPG games too, such as this are really something that get your heart pounding, very fun. Today I was drawn into a gunfight on my own against 3 shooters, however I managed to get a vantage point get two, then tactically outflank the last one and finish him. The fact there is so much to lose and you really only have 1 life make it much more exciting. Something completely different to normal combat in FPS's where you just respawn in seconds. I would suggest people perhaps practice in singleplayer and get used to the combat in the game, there is far too little of it in Day Z when it comes to conventional combat and when it does come it is deadly if you do not know what you are doing. Rather than having no experience and getting a little frustrated when you get killed. I agree with you Bayers, things have changed. However PLEASE do not take this as we are simply saying, "stop crying because you suck" we are just making a point about the game being quite difficult and a minority of players who moan. Lets keep this a debate. I have a suggestion to protect against players d/c in combat, although there are a few implications. Having your player remain in game for a short period of time like some MMO's, meaning you must log out in a safe place otherwise you could still be killed while offline.

Last two restarts have deleted my last two tents it seems, both disappeared with lots of cool loot I was stockpiling. A little silly to make the same mistake twice but I figured it was a one off, was wrong :( . So different to the problem in this thread as it is not just the gear but the tents that have disappeared for me. They were on the EU 2 Server.

There's a difference between sarcasm and calling people crybabies because they don't share your particular opinion. And don't mask it behind "Oh I'm from England." I lived in England for 2 years. I never dealt with this type of crap from any of my friends there. Please, I did not see anything offensive in his post. He provided quite a well structured post to provoke debate, if you wish to disagree with him make a counter, lets not derail this topic. Its quite a interesting subject.

I am tired and would like to make a much longer post such as yours but will try and just some up a few points in short. You have a very good argument, I can't say I do not disagree with all those points. However there are a number of good points about PvP. Immersion is one of them. While the constant threat of being torn to pieces by the living dead can be quite frightening at the beginning of the game you quickly learn the limitations of zombies. You discover, as long as you find shelter they present a very timid threat. They do not wander far from settlements so you are safe travelling through that deep dark forest. They are generally quite unaware of movements that are not within a short range and the list goes on. Once a player comes across these points...And turns the creepy game music down. There is very little sense of threat and threat in my opinion is one of the things that makes something scary. Players add a edge to this, yes you may not bump into many zombies on this particular route however you constantly have to make sure you are in cover and employ tactical elements to your movements to be safe from the ever present threat of humanity! This is one of the things that make this game fun for myself and my team, you really cooperate when you are constantly covering each other breaking cover, stopping to observe positions and keeping a 360 degree tab on your surroundings. If there was no PvP, we would simply run down the roads, in the open, fire our guns randomly in the woods etc. We even practice drills that we employ instantly in the instance of something like sniper fire or a ambush to ensure we are ready to deal with those more deadly and un-foreseeable threats. However you could say to these points, "but Tom, what if they made these zombies more dynamic and make them more unpredictable to increase this 'threat' you talk about". My response to this would be there is nothing more scary than the prospect of other human beings posing a threat, it is one of the reasons our society is so attracted to the theme of war and violence that inhabit our video games and some hobbies such as airsoft/paintball. There is just something primal about pitching your head against another's, a challenge. However I am not proposing that I take this approach to everyone, I am friendly, but when it comes down to being mindful of bandits this is present. Now I have sort of been drifting around my point 'Immersion', while some might predict less violence in a world such as depicted in Day Z I disagree. While I predict there would be less of the so called 'bandits' who hunt outright, the main risk in Day Z and in my opinion the would be reality is paranoia. This is the element that can lead two very "moral" human beings to set on destroying each-other. I believe there would be a great break down in trust in the real world if this happened and trust is what allows us to be so civilised, but we can only trust each other while there is the threat of the law looming over us so we know that the man I am talking to is inclined not to smash my face in when I insult him. Yes that man may have morals and would never intend to harm me for something so trivial, but while that sense of security is not there I cannot do anything but fear the worst in people. edit - And not to mention what the desperation brought upon by a event like this would bring people to do, you see war and poverty hand in hand in a number of regions of the world due to this. The social aspect of Day Z is so dynamic and rich because of PvP, you feel more like you are in the game as you are really having to judge over people and think hard about the risks you take. I think without PvP Day Z would feel less like what Rocket intended it to be a 'Simulator' (which is also what most of this community love it for) and more like a general zombie arcade. Like I said its like 1 am here in Blightly and I am afraid this is a little jumbled, however I believe all of that supports the richness and depth brought to the game through PvP. I agree that yes the "bandits" are the real problem here, the people that hunt for the hell of it. However while we could soon come up with ways of policing this slightly it is still not that much of a problem for me. Myself and my team have been playing a long time now and I have only ever been killed by another player once and that was when I was a noob on my first life. As long as you learn to employ the right tactics you can easily avoid these people, if you get caught by them yes you may be upset, but you have no-one really to blame but yourself for letting yourself get caught out. Caution can avoid most threats, however I do agree there are some situations that cannot be avoided but that is just something that has to be excepted. Even the best survivor can be caught in a ambush, same way special forces units in real life could. I personally love socialising with other players, talking to them, discussing stories around the campfire. Having arguments and disputes due to paranoia, the lot, makes the game so much more interesting. I suppose the best way to summarise my view would be that I am a huge fan of the right kind of PvP, but yes still disagree with some of the aspects brought from death matchers. edit - Oh I have more! PvP is what makes this game unique compared to other Zombie Games, if it wasn't for that we might as well play other zombie games. If people cannot handle dying at the hands of other players they should simply go to one of these games in my opinion as taking PvP away would make this game much like any other. Oh I actually did write alot, I better hit the sack now Yawn*.

I wouldn't take this criticism to heart, he isn't trying to insult anyone he is simply making a point about the game-play. He is entitled to his opinion and I am sure criticism like this has its value to the developers, so lets not all get up in arms about this :S.

I think if the leaderboards were given a bit of a makeover and viewing them etc was a little more intuitive people would be motivated to survive longer among other things. Day Z has yet to get boring for me, plus keep in mind its a Alpha. It hasn't exactly reached its peak lol, new stuff being added all the time.

Bump, please can this be stickied so new players can find it? Thanks.

Thanks for the feedback and the rep guys, I am glad it helped. I actually enjoyed making this guide, I have a feeling I may have missed a thing or two so please, if you have a question about gear that you think I have not answered or are having trouble with a bug, ask and I will not only answer but add it to the guide to help other players with the same issue. Would also be nice if this could be stickied so it isn't lost under the huge haypile that is this forum.

I think you are rather close-minded to compare this to COD simply because he used the phrase "perks". I like this idea, I do not think your suggestion is anything like the perk system in games like COD. You are simply suggesting a way to increase depth to the game and I like that, I love roleplaying in games and this would help make the game more immersive. I am not too keen on the examples you have given although I like a few of them, however I think its the idea in general that is good and can easily be developed. I might even add a few ideas of my own when I am less tired. Think of any other RPG, a large proportion of them let you pick some sort of background. I would disagree with anything that affected combat however things that grant some sort of special abilities would be nice. Perhaps something like the campaign character generation in Mount and Blade would be good. You are given a number of multiple choice questions that slowly allow you to create a background for your character, these generic questions will come to a conclusion where they generate some details about who you are. Then depending on some of the choices you made you will be geared towards certain specializations.

Elo, Tom's the name, I go by the names Tom212, Thunderstruck and Captain English. I like to think of myself as a nice guy, always happy to help another gamer out. I have been playing the ARMA series regularly since the release of Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis just over a decade ago, wow it really was that long ago lol. I have always been a avid player of the RPG games, I spent alot of my early ARMA 1 days playing with the RP-Mods crowd but eventually found another with Sahrani Life Reloaded. We are all still together and I am currently spearheading a effort to bring ourselves back to the modding front. I love every aspect of ARMA, warts and all. A little about myself, I live in the United Kingdom and love skiing and rock climbing. Spent the last 6 months on a winter ski season in the French Alps, was awesome! Always looking to make new acquaintances so feel free to drop me a line!

Scrap them, changing player models in ARMA always has brought its issues with selectplayer and such and its not worth it for the gameplay it ruins. Yes it is a indicator that someone has killed another player, however it also has a tendency to force people who became bandits through killing in self-defense or something similar into becoming true bandits to keep alive as other players always talk and boast about killing people with this skin on sight (not helped by the fact you don't lose humanity for killing a bandit). I have a bandit skin now and I have been shot at by 4 groups of people because of it, I do not wish to be a bandit however I had to shoot 1 of these groups to protect myself and I dig the hole deeper...