jaws4096

[Edited again to pare the text down to a more reasonable level.] Shooting Mechanics Seemingly random death from afar is an important part of Dayz, and I don’t want to change that. If someone puts the work into obtaining a decent rifle and learning to shoot it accurately, and I fail to spot him before he spots me, I deserve to die. However, the current long range combat system is completely unrealistic. Sniping is a point-and-click affair that doesn’t reflect any of the real-world difficulty involved in shooting something really, really far away. Several of my suggestions below attempt to address this problem. 1. Significantly increase the “random aiming drift” effect for all weapons, particularly while standing and after running any significant distance. In general, it should be much more difficult to hit people with gunfire. Even if we assume that the survivor you control is ex-military or law-enforcement, the current accuracy of all weapons is extremely unrealistic and makes the game less fun than it could be. In real-life pistol marksmanship, a torso-sized target can reliably be hit out to about 30 meters, and a head-sized target out to around 15 meters. This assumes a stationary target, a calm and stationary marksman, and a weapon that is familiar to the shooter and in good condition. In most Dayz close combat situations, none of these apply. The shooter and the target are often running around under great duress. They are using unfamiliar weapons that are likely to be badly maintained. In this situation, you’d be unlikely to hit someone more than 10 feet from you. I’m not suggesting we take things this far, but the current system is in serious need of adjustment. Long-guns, like rifles and shotguns, are easier to point accurately than pistols, but are still far less accurate in real life than their portrayals in-game. Holding a highly-accurate, sighted-in rifle freehand, for example, it is fairly difficult to consistently hit a stationary torso-sized target 100 meters away. Shooting from a stable platform, skilled hunters using high-quality weapons still commonly miss stationary targets 300 meters away. To hit anything beyond 500 meters requires a rock-solid gun rest, a highly-accurate weapon that has been properly sighted-in, and a great deal of skill. In Dayz, players are consistently head-shooting targets 600 yards away or more, from a standing position. This is completely unrealistic. Making the sights “drift” significantly more than they currently do would alleviate this problem. Crouching players would see less drift, and prone players would see very little. If a player is exhausted or seriously injured, shots beyond about 400 meters should be pretty much impossible due to sight drift, even while prone. 2. Make breathing and fatigue a more important aspect of aiming. Even with a solid gun rest, to hit a target over 300 meters away requires careful breathing control. 3. Implement gun rests. No hunter or solider would ever take a ranged shot freehand if they had the option to fire while prone, or from another supported position, like resting their weapon on a tree branch. Since the game already detects when body parts or weapons collide with objects, all that would be needed is a context menu or hotkey to “use rest” which, while selected, would anchor the gun to a game object. I envision this working sort of the way Battlefield 3 treats bipods. 4. Implement variable wind. Wind is a crucial variable in any ranged gunfight. It is completely unrealistic (to the point of being game-breaking, some would argue) to allow players to make 700 meter shots without having to consider anything other than bullet drop and target movement. Wind is the most obvious and significant of the ignored long-range shooting factors, and needs to be modeled. If possible, it would be excellent to see grass blades and tree leaves moving different directions, to different degrees, based on wind. The tricky thing is that this would be unique to each small area of the map, and probably a server resource hog. Making the wind the same across the whole map, and having it change similarly to the current dynamic weather system, would be less realistic, but also far less demanding and better than nothing. Another option would be have wind follow a predictable script for each area, on a 24-hour cycle, so that the related processing can be moved from the server to the client. 5. Separate weapon accuracy from aiming accuracy. In reality, the accuracy of a rifle is dependent on three things: 1. The shooter’s ability to point the barrel where he intends to shoot. This is primarily a matter of whether or not the shooter has a stable support to rest his gun on, and his skill. It can also be influenced by the type of weapon he’s using, and any attached accessories. 2. The inherent accuracy of the weapon and its ammunition. That is, how close the bullet travels relative to the way the barrel is pointed. No matter how skilled a hunter is, he can’t change the fact that the bullet will travel in a random, slightly-different path from where the gun is pointing. A typical hunting rifle might have accuracy of around 2 minutes of angle. 3. Influences on the bullet as it travels toward the target, such as wind. One way to accurately determine bullet flight paths would be to first set the amount of weapon drift (the wavering of the gun barrel in the player’s hands) which would be based on the following: · The type, size, and weight of the weapon (e.g. a pistol would waver far more than a rifle) · Weapon attachments like fore grips or bipods · Player stance · Use of a gun rest · Player heart / breathing rate (i.e. has he been running around a lot?) · Player condition (serious wounds, especially to the arms, could make steady aim very difficult) Once the player fires, we have to reflect the fact that no gun puts the bullet exactly where the shooter is aiming. This is the “weapon accuracy” part of the shooting equation. The actual bullet trajectory would be some small, random angle from “true” to the way the barrel is pointed, based on: · Weapon type and quality · Weapon condition, perhaps including heat (i.e. barrel warp) from repeated firing · Ammo type and quality Finally, exterior effects would push the bullet in-flight. These could include: · Wind · Thermals and other temperature-related air effects · Spin drift 6. Implement adjustable sights, which can be knocked out of alignment. Most guns have adjustable sights. The odds of an average gun you pick up already being accurately sighted-in are somewhat low, especially if you’re collecting that gun from someone that met a violent end, like falling off of a building, being crushed in a helicopter crash, or being torn apart by a zombie. Guns should have adjustable sights than can drift out of alignment if banged around. The only way to know if a gun is sighted-in is to practice shooting at something. 7. Implement gun condition, and gun repair / cleaning. In the real world, gunfighters are constantly worried about the condition and cleanliness of their weapons. A dirty gun is more likely to jam, and can also suffer from adverse accuracy effects. A simple system for measuring the current level of cleanliness of a gun would be great. Crawling through mud with the gun drawn, or submerging it in water, would accelerate the level of dirt. Some of the more delicate weapons would be more likely to jam with just a little “uncleanliness” while more robust, less accuracy-dependent weapons like pump-action shotguns would be serviceable even if extremely dirty. This change would make gun oil and gun cleaning kits a necessary and valuable item in the game. It would also be an incentive to keep guns holstered or otherwise protected until sure that they are going to be used – just like real life. 8. Increase the amount of recoil, and don’t return the gun exactly back on-target after a shot. Even a relatively underpowered pistol, like a 9mm Glock, recoils quite a bit. It is difficult to shoot more than a round per second and maintain a high level of accuracy. Larger pistols like the .44 magnum are pretty much impossible to fire rapidly. Rifles and shotguns are easier to hold steady, but also fire much more powerful rounds and thus also have significant recoil. Generally speaking, the 5.56mm NATO round is one of the lightest rifle rounds in-use, and is thus relatively easy to hold on target over several shots (but still has more recoil than in-game). Larger long-guns such as 7.62mm NATO sniper rifles and 12-gauge shotguns recoil quite a lot, and if you’re shooting a distant target it would take a good deal of time and effort to get the reticle back on-target after a shot. Anti-material rounds like the .338 Lapua or .50 BMG sniper have enormous kick, and have a large muzzle blast visible even in daylight. Shooting targets at long range with these weapons, it is virtually a necessity to have a spotter reporting where shots are landing, and where the target has moved since the last shot. 9. Implement debris / dust kick-up and shooting blankets. When a gun is fired from a prone position, leaves, dust, and other debris will be kicked up into the air. The more powerful the gun, the larger these effects will be. This not only gives away a shooter’s position, but also obscures his vision for a short time. Laying down a blanket under the shooter can mitigate some of these effects, and would be a neat in-game feature for snipers. 10. The longer and heavier the gun, the longer it should take to steady after large movements. Holding a 12 pound sniper rifle, if you spin 180 degrees with the gun raised, two things will happen: First, you will spin more slowly than you otherwise could. Second, it will take a second or two to stop the gun’s movement and regain complete control over it.Other Combat Mechanics 11. Fix long-range player visibility. Right now, it is far easier to spot a stationary, prone person hiding in thick grass on a hillside 1,000 meters away than it is to spot them in thick grass 30 feet in front of you. This is because of the way grass rendering works, and it needs to be addressed. One solution that would not significantly impact the system resources used would be to always render grass viewed through binoculars or telescopes, regardless of range. If too much grass is visible for the player’s system to handle, reduce its density and complexity as needed. Even when not using binoculars, there should also always be at least a little grass rendered at a distance, so that player shapes aren’t quite so easy to pick out. Another solution that would cost zero system resources would be to have prone players in high grass not render for other players beyond 200 meters or so. Wearing camouflage could decrease this distance. The player would still render if viewed through a scope or binoculars. If the hidden player fires his weapon, he becomes visible at all ranges for a minute or so. 12. Location-specific damage. If a player is shot in the leg, he will limp. If shot by a powerful weapon, he may break a bone and be unable to stand. If shot in the arm, he will be less accurate while shooting. A grazing head-shot might cause a concussion, with blurred vision, vomiting, and eventual unconsciousness. Up the level of realism for wounds. 13. Realistic wound portrayal. If someone is headshot by a high-powered rifle or shotgun, they will not have much head left, and the wound will look pretty grisly. Likewise, at the moment of impact, the display of flying viscera would be pretty disturbing. This is a dark, violent game. Give us dark, violent wounds. It would be wonderful to see this implemented with enough accuracy that a skilled player could tell what sort of weapon killed a player, at what range, and roughly how long ago. 14. After firing a gun, there should be ringing in the ears and reduced ability to hear for several minutes. Multiple shots, or shots by large weapons, should increase the severity and duration of this effect. Just about any weapon larger than a .22 rifle will cause short-term ringing in the ears if fired without hearing protection. Even a .22 pistol is loud enough to cause slight ringing. Firing a combat pistol or large-bore rifle will cause severe ringing and reduced sensitivity to sound for several minutes. Unloading a clip of 7.62mm NATO should result in near deafness for a long time. This highly realistic mechanic might make earplugs or other hearing protection a valuable item. 15. Hits to the backpack (or rounds that penetrate people and enter the backpack) should have a chance of damaging or destroying equipment there. This would encourage people to be careful about their shooting, and especially careful about using high explosives. 16. “Weightier” more accurate melee combat. Melee combat should feel fair and accurate. Right now, a player swings a hatchet in the general direction of a zombie, and the zombie hopefully keels over as a result. Seeing more accurate melee combat would be a great touch. Especially since in the real world, it’s damned hard to find a gun, particularly if the area you’re in has been picked over by survivors. The game would be considerably more realistic if people had a larger variety of melee weapons and had to depend on them for longer periods when starting out – but this only works if melee combat is solid and accurate.Weapon Modifications and Ammunition 17. Provide a variety of ammo types for each caliber, with different ballistic properties. In the real world, there are a number of different loads for each caliber of ammunition. A 5.56 NATO round, for example, comes in a wide array of bullet shapes, bullet weights, and degrees of powder charge. Each of these variations would have different ballistic properties, and for long range shooting, would require separate sighting-in. At ranges over about 500 meters, regular factory ammo is generally going to be too inconsistent in its performance to be effective. Match grade ammo will be required, which is quite rare in the real world. Thanks to Kolten for pointing out the absence of this feature in the original post, and for providing some suggestions. 18. Implement weapon attachments. Many people have suggested a weapon attachment system similar to the popular mods for Jagged Alliance 2, which would wonderful. At the very least, players should be able to swap out scopes, if they have the proper tools. 19. Implement ammunition and clip management. The Stalker mod Redux 2.0 is currently in development and has a demo up for how they will handle ammunition management. This system isn’t supported by the Arma engine, so it will take some tweaking, but I think a system like this is necessary for a survival game like Dayz. Non-clip-fed weapons like double-barreled shotguns also need realistic ammunition management and loading animations. Loot Balancing 20. Limit the availability of weapons based upon the server population of players, and the weapons currently in-use by those players. At small server populations, say 5 players and under, no high-end weapons, ammunition, or equipment should spawn. This would prevent players from “raiding” secure servers and building up a risk-free horde of weapons. As server population increases, the number of high-end items that spawn would also increase, but would be balanced to account for the weapons equipped by players, or stored in their tents and vehicles. For example, if there is already one or more AS50 sniper rifles in-use on the server, the odds of a new one spawning would be dramatically reduced. More common weapons like the AKM might start to have reduced spawning only after 10 or more were in-use. Thanks to Mr. Two for pointing out the absence of this feature in my original post. 21. Allow admins to limit the frequency of high-end item “imports” to a server. Many players have a cache of high-end items on an empty server, which they visit before hopping onto a highly-populated server and wreaking havoc. Aside from the “home grown” solution (see “Server Mechanics” below) one way to limit the abuse of this strategy would be to limit item imports into a server. For example, if a player brings a set of high-end gear onto a server, he has to leave with that gear when he logs off. If he instead stashes the gear on the new server, or he dies, he has to wait 24 hours before he can join that server again carrying any high-end items. This would help ensure that he’s earning his high-end gear, rather than just farming it from a cache on another server. 22. Include a wider and more realistic array of non-military guns. Having grown up in a semi-rural area, and having spent lots of time hunting on my grandparents’ farm in the extremely-rural Texas Hill Country, I have some experience with the typical weapons owned by a family living outside of the city (in America, at least, which I’m sure varies dramatically from Eastern Europe). In my opinion, the balance of guns in the game should tilt much more towards civilian weapons. To give an example, I’ll describe weapons typically found in my area of Texas: · Nearly every rural household owns a .22 rifle for killing snakes, rabbits, and other varmints. The typical .22 rifle would be an open-sight bolt action. In my case, and my family is certainly not what I’d call “gun nuts”, there was a single-shot open sight .22 (from 1918!), a pump action open-sight .22, and a scoped semi-automatic .22 for plinking cans and such. After the apocalypse, there’s no doubt that .22 rifles would be the most abundant long gun around. While they are extremely underpowered for self-defense, Israeli special forces actually carry .22 pistols and use them to good effect. Since they are relatively quiet, lightweight, and ammunition is cheap and plentiful, .22 rifles make excellent survivalist guns. · Many households own a more powerful varmint rifle for killing groundhogs, rabbits, and even stray dogs at ranges up to and over 100 meters. In my case, this was a bolt-action scoped .222, which falls between a .22 magnum and a .223 (a .223 is roughly equivalent to a 5.56mm NATO). I shot my first deer with this gun, but it is really underpowered for that size of game. Some enthusiasts own even more potent varmint guns, such as the .22-06 (a 30-06 cartridge, roughly equivalent to a 7.62mm NATO, necked down to accept a .22 bullet). These “wildcat” rounds have tremendous energy at close ranges, with muzzle velocities in excess of 4,000 FPS. · In areas where deer are prevalent, most households will own at least one rifle specifically for hunting deer, and many people will own several. In our case, we were almost always hunting whitetail deer, which are relatively small-framed animals. We had quite a selection of rifles. The gun I shot my second deer with was an 1894 lever-action 30-30, which is another relatively underpowered gun for deer. We also owned a .223, a .243, a .270, a 7mm-08, a 30-06, and a .300 Winchester Magnum, all with decent scopes. The .300 winmag is overpowered for whitetail and was kept around mainly for out-of-state hunting trips for elk, mule deer, and other larger game. · Most households will own a small shotgun, used mostly for varmints. We owned a single-shot, hammer-fired 4-10 shotgun and a 20 gauge pump-action shotgun for this purpose. Loaded with the proper ammunition, both of these guns are quite lethal at close range. · If the residents are bird-hunters, there will likely be a number of other shotguns in the house. We owned an over-under 4-10, two over-under 20 gauges, a semi-automatic 20 gauge, two over-under 12-gauges, a semi-automatic 12-gauge, a Remington 870 pump-action 12-gauge, and a double-barrel 10 gauge. Again, we weren’t gun nuts, and I feel that our selection of shotguns was typical of a large hunting family. · Most rural families would have some type of revolver or other handgun, for carrying out in the field, to deal with unexpected tasks like killing poisonous snakes or to scare away mongrel dogs. On my grandparent’s farm, there was a .38 special and a colt .45 revolver. · My grandparents did not own any other handguns, but in my own childhood home, we had several. There was a Ruger .22 bull-barreled pistol for plinking, a .22 revolver, a Sig 238 sub-compact pistol in .380, and a Sig 226 in 9mm for self-defense. · My family also had a Mossberg 930 semi-automatic 12 gauge shotgun, with a flashlight attached, for self-defense. Owning a shotgun solely for self-defense is fairly uncommon.If the family in question is made up of “gun nuts”, survivalists, or other people who tend to own lots of guns, the selection of rifles and pistols would be greatly expanded. At the very least, there would almost certainly be one or more AR-15 equivalent semi-automatic rifles chambered in 5.56mm NATO. Survival Elements 23. Implement fishing / trapping game for food. This should probably include a greater abundance of small game like rabbits and squirrels, which are likely to make up the bulk of a wilderness survivalist's protein intake. 24. Raw / cooked meat should only be edible for a couple of days. If rotten or raw meat is eaten, it allays hunger but could lead to vomiting and other illness. 25. Berries, mushrooms, and vegetables from gardens should be harvestable. In the case of berries and mushrooms, some varieties should be poisonous, just as in the real world. Models should be detailed enough for players to use a real foraging book or other guide to determine what’s safe. (Thanks to Mr. Two for this suggestion - http://dayzmod.com/f...d-and-foraging/).Other Equipment 26. Introduce cammo netting, which can be thrown over any item to help conceal it. 27. Allow players to hang soda cans, scatter broken glass, or create other makeshift alarm systems. 28. Allow players to build spike pits and other rudimentary traps. Other trap ideas (many stolen from the forums):Tripwire hooked to a gun to shoot anyone coming thru a door. Claymore mines. Landmines. Caltrops to slow people down or puncture tires. Oil slicks to make people slip and fall or make cars lose control... grenades/flares/chemlights rigged to tripwires. – JamesR Booby trapped vehicles that explode when started / moved. Remove slide pins/hammer pins, and plug barrels from weapons and leave them places so if sumone shot them they would explode/malfunction in their hands. – Mr Two Poisoned food. Server Mechanics 29. Allow server admins to set their server to “home-grown” meaning that only players and items created on that server can play there, and they cannot play elsewhere. http://dayzmod.com/f.....<br /><br />[EDIT] This is basically a private hive, which already exists. 30. Increase the maximum number of players per server. At the current map size, player interactions are too infrequent, except in a few key areas. A cap of 200 players per server would allow a more entertaining level of interaction, without ruining the desolate, isolated feeling of more “rural” areas. This change would require significant optimization of the game engine and server programming, as 50 player servers are already quite prone to times of extreme lag.Inventory and Gear Management 31. Weight should more realistically affect running speed and fatigue. Maximum carrying weight in the real world is not a fixed number. A person can run at his maximum speed, with no impact on fatigue, only if he’s carrying less than around 10 pounds or so – assuming he has a backpack or other efficient way of stowing his gear. After that point, maximum speed and fatigue increase proportionally to the weight carried. A player should be able to fill an adequately sized backpack with some large amount of gear, say 100 pounds or more, but as a result he should run at about a third of his maximum speed, and tire extremely quickly… especially if going uphill. Dayz should model this real-world behavior. Players will have to choose between a light load (which enables them to outrun zombies) or a heavy one (which allows them to have lots of stuff). One way to realistically balance these goals would be to allow players to remove their large backpack before raiding a populated area, and retrieve it once their raid is done. 32. Gear should have both weight and size, and players should have variable capacity for both weight and size, depending on the shape and efficiency of their carrying gear, like backpacks. 33. Carrying gear should include slings, holsters, bandoliers, backpacks, fanny packs, jacket pockets, etc. 34. Include clothing that is waterproof, heavily insulated to keep players warmer, or has other benefits. 35. Allow players to carry and wield a melee weapon in addition to their main ranged weapon. I actually find myself stashing my main weapon and equipping the hatchet when I go into towns. It’s much more sensible to take out that single agro zombie silently and risk a little damage, than to take on the entire hoard and abandon my supply mission. Give players a tricky, high-risk, silent way to kill the occasional lone zombie when it’s required, without making them do all sorts of inventory gymnastics.Healing and Dying 36. Broken bones should be healable with splints. Minor breaks should allow the player to slowly limp around, assuming their pain is managed. Serious breaks should immobilize a player (like the current bone break system) until the injury is splinted. Splints can be ready-made medical items, and can also be constructed from anything straight and rigid (firewood, large knife, hatchet handle, crowbar, crossbow bolt, etc) combined with a bandage. If a player takes morphine for a minor bone break, they can run for a while, but after a few hours the pain returns if they haven’t splinted the bone and they can once again only hobble around. Serious breaks should not be correctable with morphine, though they may take the player out of shock. 37. Morphine should cause blurred vision, reduced accuracy, or other penalties to combat. 38. Non-injected painkillers should take a minute or two to have an effect. Oral medication doesn’t kick in right away. 39. Allow infections of open wounds. 40. Include defibrillators, but limit the circumstances under which they can be used. EDIT MykeMichael was one of several people to suggest this. Several people pointed out that if you're dying from blood loss, a defib is pretty useless. It's a great point, and a good reason to nix them altogether.Dayz Suggestions (1.2).pdf

Been awhile since I checked this threat. Nice suggestions, Radivmo!

Has anyone heard anything solid on ammunition management and reload modeling? See video from my suggestion list. Hope it makes it in!

This isn't just another post bitching about hackers. Or, at least that's how I hope it will be viewed. I realize hackers are a part of the alpha experience. And yes, I'm probably going to buy the standalone no matter how much hacking occurs on the alpha servers. But I think the current level of hacking is bad enough that it has a few important consequences that will negatively impact the standalone game: Any concept of play-balancing during the alpha stage is impossible. Rocket has a million free testers at his disposal, but so long as hacking is so rampant, he isn't getting any useful data about how to properly balance loot, zombie abilities, etc. Player interactions aren't genuine. An important part of the final game will be the myriad ways in which characters choose to interact with one another. Those interactions are up to the players, of course, but they are also heavily influenced by the game's design. Dump a bunch of hackers into the mix, and player interactions skew towards the current environment of KoS... with a big gun you didn't earn. Again, the alpha is a wonderful chance to refine the way players interact, but all the data that's being collected is polluted by hacking. Many players have become frustrated with hacking, and have quit playing, or don't play as often as they would. Some of these people won't buy the game as a result, which means lost sales. But more likely, these people will just be less enthused about the alpha. They won't participate in discussions, and won't tell their friends about Dayz. This not only results in lost sales when the standalone comes out, but also lost (potentially valuable) input into the alpha. I believe that the enthusiasm over this mod is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Rocket and for Bohemia. Alpha players need to be managed just like paying customers, because if the devs play their cards right, that's exactly what we will all become. If something is breaking our experience and making the game significantly less fun than it could be, it needs to be fixed as quickly as possible. Taking the approach of, "What do they want, it's a free game?" is just a bad business decision. I'm not saying that's Rocket's approach, but the devs' seeming lack of concern about hacking when they've spoken in public is a big worry, in my opinion.

Thanks for saying what I was trying to say, better than I said it!

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, Rocket. I continue to be really excited to see how things develop. This may not be possible to answer publicly, but do you feel that Bohemia would agree with / stand behind what you've said?

Rocket, I totally agree that you should make the game that you envision, and as I've said in other posts, I'm amazed by what you've done and will certainly buy the standalone. I'm not sure if your rant about statistics is a direct reply to my OP, or a more general reply to everyone that is asking you to make this game (including the free alpha version of it) more playable. You aren't making games for the money, and you aren't making them for you and 50 friends (which you don't need Bohemia to do). Okay. It's probably worth pointing out that money aside, making a blockbuster game buys you the freedom to continue making exactly the software you want to make, with minimal oversight, but maybe that doesn't do it for you, either. I don't know what rings your bell, then. Maybe, hopefully, it is the joy you get from watching people enjoying something that you created. If that's the case, I think that doing what you can to fix the game-breaking problems with the alpha would be a good use of time. Don't get me wrong. It would be totally understandable for you to say, "Fuck the mod, you guys are on your own! I'm going to concentrate on the standalone." This would, I think, indicate that player input is no longer wanted or needed, and that issues I brought up like play balancing are irrelevant to the finished game. it would also say, "Not only does money mean nothing to me, but the enjoyment of all the people who are so committed to the alpha doesn't mean much, either. The diehard fans will stick around, regardless." That's a reasonable position to take, and I don't think anyone would hold it against you if you did. The fact that you're still supporting the alpha, however, and continue to release new versions, seems to indicate that you do care about the experience of all these fans TODAY, and not just the diehard ones like me who will forgive anything and buy the standalone no matter what. If that's true, and I hope that it is, I'm guessing that we'll see some major fixes, particularly with regard to scripting, long before the standalone is released.

For #1... no one ever has enough user case data. If the creators of WoW are still constantly analyzing user behavior to tweak their game (which they are) then it's safe to say that there's no such thing as too much user experience information and analysis. Regarding #3, that's a fine perspective, if you only want to sell games to "normal" people. If you're going to make a game that adheres strictly to your (somewhat unconventional) design principles, you certainly want to capture the full market of folks who like what you've done.

10-1 those are hacked items...

Have to disagree here. It's only by getting a minimum viable product out there that Rocket was able to convince a major studio to put more resources behind the game. The point of my post is that supporting the minimum product, while developing the final product in parallel, is something that ultimately leads to a better final product and higher sales.

Nice work. Good suggestions. You have my beans!

Do you think they all quit mainly because of hacking? Or bugs? Boredom? Of they have just moved on to the next game?

My vote would be to keep the season choice a local server thing. I don't have any problem with players hopping between seasons on the main hive.

Is it possible to disable scripting in the Dayz Mod, and if so, would this break the mod? When people have suggested that all player customization / scripting be disabled on the main hive, I've heard weak responses about how Dayz is itself a hack, and so we don't want to shut the mod community down... which is fine... but isn't a reason to break the alpha, as hacking has arguably done. Is there a technical reason it isn't possible to make it go away?

That's a bummer. I'm sure there are many more like you.

I think some aspects of the ACE mod are not quite intuitive, and it's full feature set requires lots of new controls for the player to remember. I'm not against including most of ACE, but I would probably want to figure out how to make the interface more intuitive, without breaking immersion.

Since I'm not a coder, I can't really comment on what should be done about it. It seems like an optional patch would be possible. People who play other mods wouldn't download it. People who play Dayz (who currently outnumber all other mod players and Arma II players combined, by a large margin) would download it.

Been messing around with ACE. It's pretty damned good. Maybe a bit too involved for the player, but still really cool.

Great point. I agree that modeling character emotion is a bad deal - make the real-life player FEEL those emotions, and you accomplish the same thing, much more effectively.

Something worth pointing out is that for the great majority of my suggestions, you'd want the systems to be unintrustive. I don't advocate adding a bunch more controls for players to remember, for example. The goal would be for everything to be intuitive, so that players don't have to think, "What was the button to do X again?" - they just look at the world around them and do what makes sense. If they happen to know a lot about the physics of shooting, long range shots will make sense, too... but novices can still live in this big, complex world and view it through simple eyes, just like in real life.

PM me or reply to this post if you'd like to join up on an EST server. My player name is the same as my forum handle, so I'm easy to find. I'm 32, and I usually play in the afternoons and weekends. At the moment I'm hanging out in the cities, dying a lot, and trying to meet friendlies.

I'm now located near NW airfield and have decent gear. Would love to meet up if anyone is interested.

32, live in Atlanta, trying to find another survivor to hang with. Currently near the NW airfield with decent gear. Just search for my7 forum name (Jaws4096) to find me.

Looking for Peter, we played on US 132 today and got thwacked by a Ghili guy near SW airfield.

Played a great game with a survivor named Peter on US 132 today. Tried to find him later, and of course there are a million guys running around named Peter.