logan23

Dayz and Extra credit video - on Horror Protagonists Here is the link: http://penny-arcade....or-protagonists Protagonist- DayZ The Protagonist needs to be an everyday person, someone we can relate to. DayZ- does this with a clean slate Player Character. This is also a reason why we should not have start off classes for the Player since it breaks this connection that the Player could be a reflection of You. To make my point here- go to the point in the video where they compare Ripley’s character- an anybody- to Predators’s Arnold’s Expert soldier character. These references go right to the heart of the Start character class or clean slate design for the Player character. Staying with the Arnold/Predator –Ripley/ Alien comparison , Arnold used the skills he had already new based on his class, while Ripley had to learn to think outside her comfort level, think outside of what would be her class role. The Ripley example shows how a player develops new skills outside their base character setup. Fear/Horror In the video it talks about how the protagonist needs be weak at the start, powerless to the forces they face. We see how DayZ took the spawn with a gun and items to now—the player has a flashlight, and painkillers…..you truly feel powerless and this makes every gain in supplies and weapons- lead to the player feeling Empowerment. In DayZ the players are verse not just Zeds and Players who could shoot on spot but also more and more the environment. One interesting note the video makes is that the more the player comes to matching the powers against them the more the game becomes an action game. With DayZ, this concept is around the debate on the Zeds and how to make sure they can be fought but they are also still a danger, wither this is based on Zeds agro each other or they danger of each attack or the concept of killing Zeds will lead to lost in ammo which you need. I see from the information on the DayZ standalone that they are looking at using the environment to help bring more tension and finding ways to keep Zeds a threat. Other players as a threat is created just by the wanting of another person’s weapon, supplies, feel they are a threat- Human fears. 3 Types of Protagonist- 1- The one who overcomes: In DayZ these are more of moments in the game not the final outcome. Players triumphant when they get through a town without alerting and Zeds or wining a gun fight against another player. 2- The one who is defeated: This is the final outcome. We know it is only a matter of time before our character is killed. The perma death is a way to remind the player of their mortality. 3- The one where the Player becomes the Horror: This is the Player who decides to kill other players. They remove their final threads of society and rationalize in their mind why it was ok to kill an unarmed player or a player who didn’t even see them as you travel through a forest. The more extreme version of this, the Player who get a sniper rifle and goes on top of a building or hill and simply shoot random players. This extreme example the player has become as much of a horror as the Zeds. If in DayZ Standalone, they use any form of player ID to learn about whom you killed or figure out who killed them, this will cause a fear in the player who made the shot as well as the player who found the dead player. Ex. If the wounds are from a AK then later the player sees a random player who has an AK, they might feel that this might be the person who shot the player which you found dead. Wither players know it or not, going around killing players make you a horror in the game. I just want to end on this note- What makes DayZ so great is because the game and the development team are truly looking at ways to keep this game from becoming an action game, and instead keeping it to its roots, a survival game. They give players freedom but they are also looking how to make surviving Dayz a challenge and an experience that will trigger true tension in the player and even have player’s reflect on their decisions. Logan

Just thought it was interesting. Was listening to the video and notice that DayZ actually have some of these elements. Also the whole PvP because high level players feel that the Zeds are no longer a threat. This is actually discussed in the video, where if the player becomes to close to the power or become over powered in general where the Zeds lose their Fear factor,..players will move toward PvP since it still has that Fear factor/ challenge....... Zeds need to be able to keep even the high level players afraid. If they don't keep to this level of danger, the Zeds will feel like the creatures you fight and kill in a action base game.

My advise is to actually run around while dodging Zeds (see how you can lose them) and actually go into the cities and get killed. Once you are killed a few times, you won't feel so frustrated when later on in the game you are killed. DayZ is a game where you have to remove the concept that you can win in the game. The reality is that sooner or later your character of XXX days will die. But each life is like a small story. Have Fun!

Yea, a DayZ store wouldn't really fit since it's a survival game and there are no settlements. Plus having the new maps as a source of income, this will push the Developers to create even better maps= the better the map the more sales since the player will see the value in the map and be able justify the purchase.

I'm saying the Developer needs to be able to make money for the up-keeping of servers, building new maps, and creating new features like the underground construction. I'm sure the Dev team have other ideas for future content and features but a good deal of this comes down to the sales of the game and sales of DLC (if they do release DLC). The reason why i'm ok paying for future DLC maps because I rather have that then a in game store like we see in WarZ.

I didn't watch the video since I don't encourage this behavior. The idea that you went out to kill 100 players, makes me want to ask a few questions- 1- Did you feel any change in your views toward the players you are killing? Feel bad at first and then numb/ don't care as you get into higher numbers. 2- Was you views on mass killing players changed? Did you find it boring as time went on. 3- Your actions in a game like DayZ which is a simulation- When players decide to throw out the last thread of their humanity/ society structure and morals (This is more for players who are not aiming for a body count number but for players who kill other players in situations where they don't have to). I really feel that DayZ is very much a great tool to study human psychology and social behaviors. Wither you know it or not your actions are reflecting something, wither you kill or don't kill, etc.

I understand you don't like DLC but..The Devs need to make some money to invest in maps and features. I don't see anything wrong with DLC Maps.

I like where you are going with the UI. It's a tad confusing, but its looking good. Keep working on it. You might want to add Tabs so you can open what section of the full UI - you want to since the UI you have is very large.

I don't think players should spawn as a certain type of player who has skills toward an area of expertise or lean that way. I rather see skills learned by discovering, exploring the map and finding tips on how to make certain things or allow you to be able to split antibiotics into smaller dosages so its not a one time use. All of these could also be discovered by experimenting with items you find in the world but I rather see the game reward exploring and being creative with what scraps you find. This will have players feel rewarded for using their brain as much as ability to fire a gun.

Poison Darts is a nice concept. I believe that the player needs to mix chemicals in order to make these poison darts. The player will be able to experiment and learn how much makes the dart lethal and how much makes it non lethal. Different poison types could lead to different results, death, blacking out, paralysis, tremors, etc. But this should not be something you find but something you have to make.

Cannibalism is something usually done out of desperation but we know players will simply use it as another reason to kill a player or get a few extra points to their blood. Cannibalism needs to have a heavy penalty like getting a disease Example: "Kuru is an incurable degenerative neurological disorder (brain disease) that was probably transmitted among members of the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea via cannibalism. Kuru is a Fore word that means 'to shake' People with Kuru tremble and shake" http://en.wikipedia....iki/Cannibalism "Kuru is an incurable degenerative neurological disorder that is a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, caused by a prion found in humans.[1] The term "kuru" derives from the Fore word "kuria/guria" ("to shake"),[2] a reference to the body tremors that are a classic symptom of the disease; it is also known among the Fore as the laughing sickness due to the pathologic bursts of laughter people would display when afflicted with the disease. It is now widely accepted that Kuru was transmitted among members of the Fore tribe of Papua New Guinea via cannibalism.[3]" So if DayZ had Cannibalism there could a virus meter/number count of pathogen. When this numbers get to a certain count you start to get Kuru, which you can't cure. the shakes would be every so many minutes but heating human flesh to many times = constant tremors. This means players would only do this- only when they are actually starving.

The image of the new area reminds me a location where maybe the last of the resistance held up till they either left or overcome by the infection and became Zeds.

I was thinking could Dynamic Events could use DayZ Staff who would play NPC/characters like a Helo that lands in an area for something or... A truck drives onto a map and the DayZ Live team would control and play as the lost family or people who need gas. Would players kill them? With DayZ live team people controlling what would be normally NPC/AI With Live team actually playing roles for dynamic events - allows outside world feel but your going against live people vs AI

Hey, I was thinking it would be great if DayZ had a large list of items which can be found in the game world but the player is not told what they can create with it. There would be many items/tools/etc that can be created trough connecting items together. The concept is in a real Zed Apocalypse you would be making things from scraps where you must use your intelligence as well as your ability to fire a gun. Example- Wires, Batteries, plastic bag (large and small), duct tape, Open plastic container, Lenses/ or glass, Blade, Empty can, Rope, Industrial wire, note pad(5-20 sheets), Magnet, Broom handle, full broom, Compressed air can, alcohol, different medical supplies, fishing items.......etc... Player can break some items down or take the ones they find and create new ones through experimenting or at times players will find hint on things they could create. This can also be used to make your own flares, ammo, or explosive items used to inflict injury or distraction. I know they have talked about making things like a molotov cocktail but this could be expanded to survival and it's own meta game among players. What are your thoughts

I wonder if the dog can scout out/ smell out players that are hiding in building or even use them to track snipers. It's going to be sad when we hear the first post where a player shoots another play's dog for no point just because.

I can see a player shooting his friend, saying..Hey my dog needs to eat. Bam. Here Fido,...dinner !

Do we know if the Dogs can attack? and/or any other helpful uses for having one? The Video does a great job showing the mechanics of controlling the dog AI

I'm looking forward to seeing dogs become part of the game, both as a helper and possibly as a danger. What is interesting to see is since the mod has been focusing on bugs, loot layout and Infected behavior, there has been less new features other then the melee weapon, and now we see the mention of Dogs and players are showing they don't want them. What seems to be going on is that players have gotten use to the balance and mechanics of the game; where new mechanics that could shake up what they are comfortable is causing them discomfort. The DayZ we see now will not be the one we see months from now so expect many changes which will shake things up for players who are comfortable in the balance as it is now.

If you think of it as we get closer to Arma 3's target release, the staff who finished their section of Arma 3 could be shifted to help in DayZ's production. I think the next 3 months will be getting the Arma 3's Engine setup and prepped for DayZ's needed mechanics. I can see the Alpha Stand alone by the holidays or January 2013. I have no idea how long it will take for the final Stand alone to be done since we don't know what are the features they want to add into the game. It's going to be exciting

I think it will use the Arma 3 Engine but it will be modified to fit DayZ's mechanics and features. I'm looking forward to the stand alone! =)

Skills should be centered around learning real skills in the game. The examples of knowing the and reading the stars- players could find something that could be a note that they can use to read the stars better or use the note to find the north star. (This would be something players can't loot off the body) Skills need to be non loot able- Skills are meant to make your player more useful to a group alive then dead/looting body. You give transfusions could = a gain in medic skill that has certain bonuses like the ability to create a antibiotic that can be used twice---this one could even be learned from finding and tracking down notes from medical sites,..etc.. You get the idea

I love Dayz and seeing how it's progressing :) This is for the standalone version- Having a world that is ever changing, as Rocket has discussed the Infected getting a dynamic life cycle which will be great. To build on this there can be this push and pull of cutting the number of Infected down as you learn about the life cycle but also there is ways that the numbers will grow in some part to player behavior and choices in the world. The number of player deaths = food for Infected so this could bring in hordes of wandering Infected from areas off the map as if they migrated to the map/world. There could also be dynamic events where we see roaming Infected hordes roaming from one city to the next and these could also be affected by the time of day it is in the game. Even day and night cycles could affect the different types (where they are in the Infected life cycle) infected differently which could mean boost in their sprinting or other factors. Dynamic events should be a way to also keep players on their toes in trying to make a new civilization. Dynamic Events could be a helicopter appearing over head and crashing into the woods where players will hear the crash and see smoke. What i'm getting at is that DayZ standalone needs a breathing and living world that is constantly changing. This will keep players wandering and being surprised by the world. DayZ is on it's way to building an experience that other games can't compare. What do you think? What are your ideas on dynamic events and ways to keeping the game's world evolving outside just the player to player interactions.... Let the discussion begin....

The only way to test the loot spawns and actually player behavior is to do Wipes ever few Updates. If you don't there is a good chance of bugs.

With the whole class thing or getting skills after spawn as you play..... I would say the best would be skills are gained by finding things that can help teach you to read stars or hint on how to combine items to make a homemade trap or diversion tactics. I can see some skill set learned in the more traditional way but mainly focus on repairing vehicles or generators. Basically something that can make you more valuable alive verse dead.

Can't we just have Alt+F4 disabled??????