Chris Tudberry

Cheers man - well, at least we know there are two of us!

Thanks Espa - I knew I couldn't be the only one because it's just so 'obvious' (once you've thought of it). Would love to see this in game and I think you explained it very succinctly there too. Can I just post this in your suggestion list so hopefully more people get to see it?

That's what I mean - not knowing which ones are sleeping / waiting / dormant and which aren't, would make it scary again. Even the odd one getting up behind you would give a good fright. And imagine the chaos if loads of them jumped up at the same time. Total panic.

Ah, didn't realise that - thanks. Having said that, I reckon there'd still be more horsepower required on the server to animate/activate every infected that was within 500m of a player (we're up to 75 now, I think so could be 100s at any time). And I think they were talking about a hybrid system of spawning extra ones in when necessary. With the idea I've proposed, some/many wouldn't activate until players were a few feet away and there'd be no spawning necessary - some would get up and others wouldn't. And I still think that it'd add tension, authenticity and improve the meta game of checking a location for players by checking for animated infected. At the moment, we can still do that. Anyway, thanks for reading.

Yup - if they were zombies, they could claw their way out of the ground for added drama... But, yes, that's what I meant - 'dormant' infected.

Archimedes had his moment of genius in the bath - let's see how mine compares... According to recent announcements, the devs are still wrestling with the idea of how to fully populate the world with zombies and maintain server performance etc. Well, here's a possible and easy answer: have a sizable amount of 'dead' zombies littering the world as props. It'd be pretty realistic to do this as many would have been killed by players and many would be civilians killed by zombies etc. They'd add some authenticity to the game and, if some could be 'woken up' by the usual triggers (sound, smell etc), they'd pose an immediate but not predictable threat to the players. Obviously, many could remain dormant in order to maintain dramatic tension, but obviously a few will just be waiting and when they get up, the fun will begin. I think that this would eliminate a number of headaches such as spawning them out of the player's view and the also meta game of looking for zombies in towns to determine if there are players nearby. i.e. there will always be bodies, but there's no way of knowing which are still alive. There could still be a couple of walkers just to keep it interesting and to provide sound triggers if or when they notice the players (screams or gunshots). Well, that's it. I know it'd add tension (how could walking past corpses not do this?) and although I'm no tech guru, I think it's be really easy to implement (no additional models etc.) as well as improving the aesthetic. What do you all think? Chris

Nice writeup unionjakk, and I know you speak the truth 'cos I was there!! All I can add is that there's been a bunch of us put in countless hours into the wonder that is DayZ, and now I'm starting to think 'dark thoughts' (why would I bother playing now?) Such a shame because it's a real breath of fresh air. Would be a shame for it to go this way...

Thanks ruarz, that idea, like so many I suspect, came out of a discussion in the pub after a bit of a playthrough with friends. We just liked the idea of a heightened sense of purpose, especially since we got decent at the game and don't ever feel like we are threatened any more - except by other players of course. Getting all teh decent players on a loot hunt in a smallish location sounded pretty exciting to us, especially if the items were super rare RPGs etc). The only other thing we could think of at the time was some form of indicator that other players were nearby (within 2km maybe) just to up the tension, and indicated by static on the radio or something.... It's all about the other players when you learn the game after all.

How about this: occasionally a message is sent to all players (text or audio) via ingame methods (baby monitors, radios or just onscreen) that a 'UN convoy has been attacked and destroyed at *a vague location*', or that a 'civilian news chopper has been downed by bandits at *a vague location*' etc. Pvp interraction seems to be the most exciting part of DayZ now so this would really help to generate a bit more of that and a bit more 'purpose' to the DayZ day for those who are adepts etc. Rushing to find valuable loot or to loot the looters would certainly help to up the drama of an already incredible experience.