Lights Out

Yea, I always liked the undead zombies but I'm interested in seeing what he's doing.

I guess I missed that bit of information that he definitely wasn't doing an undead type. Edit: It is in alpha as mentioned below so why not talk about it. It could be a key change within the game.

Vote and leave your ideas, I'll try my best to include your best and most key points to decipher which zombie type is really best.

I hate the whole class thing in the context everyone has been mentioning it as of late. 1) In reality in a zombie apocalypse, people who are good at certain things won't wear specific clothing. When deciding to encounter a player, you should have no idea what you're getting into or what kind of character they may be. 2) You shouldn't be good at something by just picking a class or equipping an article of clothing or item. 3) If you want to put some type of specialization for a character, it should only be gained by repeated activities and these specialization can't give players PvP advantages, That could be a game breaker. -Instead they should help in survival and give your character some kind of worth over another player in group setting which is missing from the game currently. For instance after gutting a certain amount of animals, I can harvest more pieces of meat or after bandaging/giving bloodbags and such, I become slightly more effective and efficient when providing medical attention. Slight things like this would give characters more worth within a game which encourages team play while not giving anyone any type of glaring advantage.

Maybe you can use it to do the same thing the green/yellow menu button does except it will pop up the player you are trading with. Then you can clicks those Items and click a trade button. this will then pop up on their screen and they can make an offer out of what you have. Something along those lines, tossing out ideas so we can build on it. Best way to figure out an idea.

If you want it so that no one can just see everything you are carrying (You would let some just rummage through you're pack haha) This list can be used to say what the player actually wants (regardless of whether you possess it or not) or what they are willing to trade out of the items they have. This way if a player has something he doesn't want you to see, you can't.

I like, it's coming along. Question though, what's the blue tab on the bottom for. Sorry if you already mentioned it and I didn't see it but just asking because it doesn't open anything in that flash.

I understand its somewhat of a rough idea but definitely shows promise. I'd love to see random updates like this by the dev team. Show us what they're working on. -Aside from that, some helpful criticism. Top thing I think I don't like is the "on the ground" loot is pictures. I don't know about anyone else but I'd like to see more wording of the items rather then pictures, maybe just a tiny thumbnail. I feel too many on screen images adds that cluttered look I saw a couple of fellow members mention. -As far as clothing, I'd almost have a full sized picture of the character and his clothing. Then continue with what you did with having any type of body physical equipment off to the side of the part of the body it would be on. -Weapons, ammo and tools i would put on top of the character in its own area. -Food, medical equipment and such below the character. I feel that would definitively take away that cluttered look and keep everything organized and together by type. I like the item to trade and and items to pick up off to the side like you have it. I would just put that as wording with a small thumbnail next to it at most. Then you'd be able to drag equipment in and out of those boxes, to and from your inventory.

Another thing in terms of zombies, and I say it again and again. They need to make encounters with them more deadly. Obviously the ARMA II created a plethora of restrictions, however in the standalone this won't be an issue. Theres many ways to make it more difficult as in having more zombies, possibility of becoming infected from a bite or having zombies pack come after you and you're team in a more uniform/relentless way. Currently its kind of a sprint, stop, while another ones ziggin and zagging. Now if they all just came right for you just relentlessly trying to attack, you could find you're self closed in and in a bad spot. This would make the ZOMBIE part of the ZOMBIE survival a much bigger part of the game. As it should have a much larger role. Just a side note, they need to have some kind of scare factor. As seen in many youtube videos of hackers chasing players down in a Jason skin, there is that "oh shit" factor while your trying to lose him in the woods. Obviously you can't lose a hacker that way but certain tactics would work on zombie AI. The point that I am making is, if I'm not careful in the game around zombies, I want to end up running for my life, maybe held up in a building from all sides wondering, "Am I going to make it out of this one"?

I don't think humanity should allow you to do certain things. Just because you're a good person in real life doesn't mean you gain skills and or opportunities. Many don't like this but I feel it's the only implementation that is realistic and encourages a team play without directly punishing those who want to take up the outlaw role. ( I personally love the fact that players takes the outlaw role, it adds to the game and tension) Now as far as how to encourage team play. Well, you have to have some kind of worth. As in life, people only keep you around if you have worth to them. Whether is the company or a specific set of skills which are useful. Do I want a skill tree, perks and skill points? Hell No! -But if I gut 100 animals in the game I think I should get good at it. Maybe I get 5 pieces of meat instead of 2 after a while. -If I shoot a bunch of animals and people, I'm going to get good at it. Maybe I can hold a steadier shot with my gun.' -If I fix thing all the time, well damn call me Macgyver and let me put some crazy shit together. -If I bandage, and give blood bags to all my dumb friends that shoot an enfield next big towns and break their legs crawling through doors, well damn I should be able to do it more effectively and efficiently. Would all these things work, maybe not. You shouldn't have any type of skill that is giving you a huge, lets say pvp type advantage. Like I run faster then everyone else, or I can shoot with zero recoil, or I can reload at super human speed. No, that I don't want and it would take time and multiple opinions and views to see what works. What it comes down to is, if you want some type of team play outside the people that want to play with friends, socialize with a random person etc. etc. etc. Well, you have to give players some type of worth. They can't be the same exact person as everyone else with maybe different clothes or face. Differentiate the players, make them worth keeping around.

Quick question, how are you going to fit a bush in your pack? lol

I think most of the features people have been putting up as of late are more geared towards the stand alone as most of these things obviously can't be put into the arma II mod. I know when I put in my input, it's with the idea of the possibilities and the freedom that the day z standalone will have. I would much rather they just get the MOD stable so all the people upset about it going standalone will at least be content..somewhat lol because they don't understand all the limitations of having a game as a MOD. Then just put all of their power towards working on the standalone to get a working alpha out sooner as it has a future and has endless possibilties. Sorry but the arma II MOD at this point is an old toy that they're trying to duct tape and super glue stuff onto to improve it.

I do still like some kind of random slight advantage that as mentioned before gives you absolutely no pvp advantage as h8crew mentioned. I believe you mentioned some along those lines as well Mak. Something that just makes you an asset to another player. It will encourage team play while not hurting players that want to go solo. They will just have a harder time then people playing as a team would.

Indeed I do agree, it is in alpha and theres plenty of things they can still add to the game. I definitely am not against adding to the game and continuing to improve on it. I think you get what I mean though about keeping that core simplicity. You can add a lot to the game while keeping that simplicity so I'm in no way against extra features and having things to work towards. One of the biggest things that must be addressed first above all is the survival aspects and the zombies themselves. they are the highest priority and of equal importance. Big thing about the zombies is they aren't much of a threat. There is no fear of them. This is a zombie survival game yet I feel the zombies are but a small obstacle in the road that I just need to drive around. If you fire you're weapon in this game you should pay for it. Every zombie within a certain vicinity should be headed in your direction. You should have that "oh shit" feeling when you see a zombie you don't expect. You should have no idea if you're going to survive if your getting chased by zombies.

I'll be honest, it's a cool idea that makes sense but I wouldn't want it in the game and I'll explain why. First why I like it, it's a good idea that makes sense. Depending on your occupation before this zombie epidemic, people would have had occupations which would have made them better suited to do certain things. I say the pre zombie occupation you had should be completely randomized at start of your character. This would also encourage co op play as you would want people with certain skills sets to be with you. You would not be able to do everything needed to survive by yourself or at least not effectively. Yes it does make sense and is kind of cool. But it kind of gets to the point of where do these game changing features stop? One of the great things about Day Z is it's simplicity. Once you start adding too many features it starts to inch it's way towards mirroring ever other game on the market. Small changes here and there to improve certain things is cool but too many big changes it going to change what makes Day Z special. Some form of clothes for customization could be cool but keep it simple, a few different civilian looking clothes to start off (no camo, you are a random survivor after all, find your camo in some random loot pile, maybe off a dead soldier). As far as ghillie suits maybe you can add a feature to customize it to match your current surroundings by grabbing plants/dirt/branches/bushes and stuff around you. Maybe different camo patterns and in different colors throughout the game and the ability to maybe only put on the pants of the camo. (Mix and match if you feel like looking like a douche for all I care :P )

Maybe have a button in which you sort of "store their face to memory." From now on if you are close enough to see their face (this would be a hard number " at X distance") or if you can zoom into a players face with binocs or a scope at X distance, you would recognize them as you would in real life and a soft tag or small prompt will arrive with the players name. However this nametag would not stay on your screen, only a prompt letting you know it's a player you've encountered. However I disagree you should be able to hunt an enemy down that killed you, sorry. This would technically be a new life and you shouldn't be able to carry over previous face recognitions.

Play left4dead, you'd probably like it. It's a good game, I enjoyed it online. As for putting it in Day-Z I don't think it would work. Day-Z has a more realistic feel to it and in reality, a zombie mindlessly feeds. A player wouldn't portray a zombie very well as mentioned above. They would try to tactically attack people. As far as zombies not being a threat, that I do agree on. The stand alone needs to make the zombies more of a threat. Something to be feared. Have you second guessing whether it's worth firing your weapon and attracting every zombie within a certain radius. Edit: I also wouldn't want a zombie to have a weapon. If anything increase their damage output or maybe have a certain chance of infecting you and you'd have to find antibiotics. Something like that.

I would have to partially disagree as I would like there to be a decent amount of zombies for difficulty's sake. Major areas should have a decent amount, maybe have some attracted to certain areas due to player's firing their weapons, and the occasional rare one in the woods that catches you off guard. If a town is known for spawning particularly good items it should be quite difficult to even get to it. I don't believe weapons should continuously spawn in the same spot either but that's another issue all together. All that aside though, something needs to be done in the stand alone to make the zombies a more vital part of the game. They need to become of a much higher threat. Something you really want to avoid or at least handle in a stealthy manner. For an example, using a gun in an area populated by zombies would put you in a very bad situation especially alone. So many would opt to use a blunt weapon to only kill necessary zombies to get to a location...or be heavily backed up by other players to take on the mob of zombies your gunfire is going to draw towards you.

Could one still search your body for items while you're playing dead? lol Would they be able to check your pulse?

1) I don't like the idea of having any type of A.I. with weapons. I definitely feel as if players should be the only survivors. Not to mention its perfectly plausible that civi's are the only alive as they probably would have been hiding when it all went down while soldiers were out doing the dirty work. My reason for not liking the soldier A.I. is because if a base is guarded by soldiers, technically all you have to do is kill them all off once within a server and then the threat should no longer be there..ever. Soldiers dont magically just spawn or get dropped off there just to guard a base. 2) As mentioned in the O.P. and my thread., which the O.P. posted in to have me read his idea, players attacked by zombies or in any way contract the virus, after they die ( as long as they are not shot in the head ) their bodies would be reanimated as zombie A.I. after a certain amount of time. Their skin would change to have it resemble zombie flesh. This would be a way to realistically spawn new zombies and keep the zombie count up. Not to mention if Rocket implemented some type of character customization, it would be cool to encounter one of your old characters roaming around as a zombie. Plus it would help with players going back to their dead bodies and reacquiring their items. Goodluck hunting down your zombie character. Not going to post all the ideas that arose within my thread but if you want check it out go ahead. As he mentioned in my thread by the O.P., not thread jacking but to see other thoughts to grow the idea. Always a chance that parts of our ideas could be implemented into the game. http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/69405-dead-players-turning-to-zombies/page__st__20

lol only thing is if you don't have a team mate or the person you've been surviving with decides to be an ass, you could be watching your reanimated zombie self walk around for quite a while lol I dont think it would work. Sounds cool but when considering many possible situations, it wouldn't work

It could work, I just don't know if any player should have control of a zombie. Having to disinfect yourself after a zombie bite before turning into an AI zombie seems like it could work. I'm iffy about it though cus in every zombie book/movie, when you get bitten, its just a matter of time before you turn and theres nothing you can do. As I think about it more though this would encourage team play though as you would want to have a partner to help you heal or at least be able to put a bullet in your head when theres no going back and you've turned into a zombie. Maybe, maybe. Could work. I would definitely like to see the zombies as more of a threat too. It would add to difficulty, add to the scare factor, and make you second guess whether it's worth shooting your gun and attracting every zombie within a certain radius.

I would definitely like to see the zombies as more of a threat. It would add to difficulty, add to the scare factor, and make you second guess whether it's worth shooting your gun an attracting every zombie within a certain radius.

It would make more sense the other way though no? If its just people that were sick then technically you can kill them all off and be done with it. If it's an undead type zombie, it would be never ending which would fit in with the spawning of new zombies or as I suggested reanimation of dead players.

That's what I was thinking, as discussed it can add and help so many elements within the game. But even just going back into the server and encountering your old character would be great lol