Footsteps

[trexeth 37]

Footsteps

The idea of this topice is very simple and short: Add footsteps in the game. All the creatures in the game will leave footsteps behid, so you can track and find them by following their footsteps.

Answers to the questions, that may be asked are even shorter:

+Realism

+Track Animals

+Track Players

+Track zombie floks

-NO minuses.

Of course, weather effects and time should affect footsteps, so after 30 minutes or a rain, they will dissapear (slowly dissapearing).

This will help players to use theire real-life experience (If you know how to differ boar and dear from human footsteps) in the game, or if they don't have that, gain it.

Where, and how can you leave footsteps?

As we know, you can't leave footstep on Asphalt (unless you are Hulk), so Footsteps can only be left in certain areas, let's list them

-Forest ground is moist and soft, so you, and other creatures can easily leave their footstep on it. (Tracking Animals on the Forest by Footsteps!)

-Near lakes, Snow, other Sand areas, where you can physically leave it.

-If you stepped into dirt, you will leave dirty footsteps (for about a minute, and footsteps became less visible, more steps you do), so you will try to avoid the dirt, or if your shoes are in dirt, try to mislead other's by going in one directio, until dirt wears off from shoes, and after that going where you need.

-If you are injured, stepped in blood, or you are bleeding. Leave Trails of blood, and Blood footsteps, until you are Cured, or recovered!

What you say?

Love you and Chernarus,

Dean, we count on you,

Trexeth, and his brain.

Edited November 4, 2012 by trexeth

[SP45M 240]

Im no expert but I would expect huge lag issues with every person on the server having their footsteps mapped for 5 hours. Im not so sure about realism as well, I was out around town all day today and cant say I noticed a single footstep. Snow map yes, desert map yes, but on regular type maps it would only be on sand or around dams and rivers.

[trexeth 37]

Im no expert but I would expect huge lag issues with every person on the server having their footsteps mapped for 5 hours. Im not so sure about realism as well, I was out around town all day today and cant say I noticed a single footstep. Snow map yes, desert map yes, but on regular type maps it would only be on sand or around dams and rivers.

Don't know about lags (may be reduce time, i am sure Rocket and team will find way how to implement this ing game.

About realism - if you stepped in blood, you will start leaving blood fotsteps.

If you stepped in dirt, u will start leaving dirty footsteps.

Of course you can leave footsteps on asphalt (only if your shoes are dirty)

And of course make steps in sand areas.

I will update the thread now.

[UmBe 125]

Great ideas

They should also implement, that the grass you walk over stays pushed down for a longer time

and maybe even more shrubs in a forest, that get damaged once you walk through them, so it is possible to tell, if someone walked there recently.

If you bleed, you should leave a trail of blood on the leaves you walk pass

[trexeth 37]

Great ideas

They should also implement, that the grass you walk over stays pushed down for a longer time

and maybe even more shrubs in a forest, that get damaged once you walk through them, so it is possible to tell, if someone walked there recently.

If you bleed, you should leave a trail of blood on the leaves you walk pass

Happy you liked it.

Yeah, what you are telling is right!

Every action player makes will leave a trail, so others, can predict what happened here. (By empty cans, footsteps, empty bullets...)

[trexeth 37]

Up

[kingofallsasquatch 11]

Im no expert but I would expect huge lag issues with every person on the server having their footsteps mapped for 5 hours. Im not so sure about realism as well, I was out around town all day today and cant say I noticed a single footstep. Snow map yes, desert map yes, but on regular type maps it would only be on sand or around dams and rivers.

it would affect fps

[trexeth 37]

it would affect fps

Of course.

But Rocket promised us to optimise FPS, so i don't think we will have serious problems with FPS.

[Womb Raider 92]

Great ideas

They should also implement, that the grass you walk over stays pushed down for a longer time

and maybe even more shrubs in a forest, that get damaged once you walk through them, so it is possible to tell, if someone walked there recently.

If you bleed, you should leave a trail of blood on the leaves you walk pass

All that sounds fantastic, but is that even feasible in Arma's engine. I certainly would like to see footsteps implemented as tracking someone through a forest in the middle of no-where would be exciting and very atmospheric. I'm just not too sure if it is possible in Arma's engine and if so like others have said what impact would it have on the server in terms of lag as you'd have a lot of footprints.

I like how you've specified what area's you'd be able to leave footprints in I like that and I agree with your points, except once again the whole lag issue comes into play.

But mostly great idea and I'd like to see it implemented.

[trexeth 37]

Great, that you liked it.

Actually, i really hope that this will apear in Standalone!

[starwarsfan@gmx.de 450]

Might sound like a good idea at first but if you put anymore thought into it, it really doesn't hold up.

There are so few occasions on which you'd be leaving footprints, it really wouldn't be worth the time it would take them to implement it. Unless you're wading through mud or walking on a sand beach you're not going to leave any lasting footprints. Even if you get your shoes wet you only leave footprints for your next ten steps maximum. It'd be nowhere near as useful as you're making it out to be.

Leaving footprints after you stepped into something wet(a pool of water, blood or mud), I can see the sense in that but other than that I think it wouldn't be worth the effort.

[trexeth 37]

May be you are right,

I am hunter, and i love hunting, and i can tell you, that Footsteps in hunting say a lot.

It;s not footsteps just for players.

It's for animals and zombies!

I am sure Fotsteps will change the game!

[koze 113]

Chernarus needs snowy mountains. Foot step tracking would come in handy there.

[trexeth 37]

Yeah, right call!!

[nabehobby 13]

i wouldn't mind seeing footprints around.

but if they last for 5 hours there'll be everywhere, and if i did want to track them they'll probably be across the map already.

so around 2-5 minutes and it's transparency fading away will do.

Edited November 4, 2012 by CaptainBingo

[trexeth 37]

Yeah, maybe 5 hours is too much, Actually i think, 30 minutes - maximum...

[ollox 38]

This is a great idea. This is a simple way to give a lot more information to players; if you go into a building and there are wet footprints on the floor you know someone has been here in the last 10-15 minutes and maybe still here! Tracking animals in the wild would be very nice too. I like that the footprints gradually fade, so when you learn the way they look you will be an expert on how fresh the prints are and know how far away the person/ animal might be. You can also judge movement by the gait of the footprints (space in between shows if running or walking).

Blood and mud on door handles and cupboards etc. would be good too.

I feel there must also be ways to cover up your tracks. You should be able to wipe your feet and clean your boots to prevent leaving foot marks, and also scrub away footprints and blood. These actions would be a good option if you think you are being followed, or just want to be extra careful or cover up a murder (or maybe you found a nice home and want to do spring cleaning! :P), but of course it takes time and is purely optional so not everyone will take these precautions. Maybe zombies and/or bears will be attracted by the smell of blood so you should clean up if you are planning to stay there.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Ollox

[shadowleaper 22]

Great ideas, but with a world this big and that many players and animals... I don't think this is realistic. Footprints are expensive on game engines. And if everyone's playing an average of an hour or 2 each then... well it's just madness. I'm no programmer, but I do work with them and this is usually the last thing that makes it into a game. Maybe someday we'll see a massive sequal with these cool next gen features.

[UmBe 125]

Great ideas, but with a world this big and that many players and animals... I don't think this is realistic. Footprints are expensive on game engines. And if everyone's playing an average of an hour or 2 each then... well it's just madness. I'm no programmer, but I do work with them and this is usually the last thing that makes it into a game. Maybe someday we'll see a massive sequal with these cool next gen features.

I don't know .. ACE Features blood trails, and it Runs just a Bad as Vanilla ARMA. I think it is managable, with a reasonable amount of optimazation

[yorkie065 78]

Footsteps would be far too expensive in implementing into the game. Arma does things very differently to a lot of other games in the way that it handles data. Most games, only render data and players that are relevant to you, so anything within a certain radius would be rendered and you'll be able to see players within that radius. Players outside of that radius won't share data with you, therefore you can't see them. However Arma being a military simulator, it classes everyone as being relevant to you, so data is shared constantly whilst your on the server, no matter if they're 10 metres, 100 metres or 10 kilometres from you. For that reason, I think foosteps are a little unreasonable as they'd be there constant.

However, blood trails seem to work better. Not everyone on a server is bleeding all at the same time, so one person getting shot and leaving a trail of blood for say 5 minutes can work a lot better. Same with an animal. It also makes things less confusing (multiple foot prints in different directions), and also more challenging for when the hurt player bandages themselves. Players can be relatively easy to track at the moment anyway providing you see them and they don't see you. Usually by their direction, and what gear is visible on them, you can tell roughly what key areas they may be heading towards. I've done this a few times, just to see what the player is doing and also trying to grab a sense on their mentality of the game. Are they heading towards a high loot area? They looking for friends? Are they looking for a specific place, building or crash sight? Or are they going to lead me to their tents. It's good fun watching players, and very intense in trying to not let them see you. Done it a couple of times and been spotted, and a few times they've lead me to a crashed chopper, or a hidden tent or vehicle that I then stole when they left :) So whilst your idea is nice, it can already be done if you think hard and put your mind into the other player.

[radrussian1 (DayZ) 23]

yeah its just not feasible for hundreds of players, zombies, and animals to all be leaving decals in the world.

Edited February 19, 2013 by radrussian1

[RTCsFinest (DayZ) 1]

That's an awesome idea, I think though to make the lag issues go away, make it as simple as possible. What I was thinking was instead of actually leaving footprints, since that would be so complicated, what if the grass you walk through just gets pressed down and stays down for 10 minutes. To help distinguish the trails, have the color change to a darker brown dead color or just another color that players will eventually figure out means that a player walked through there. And just have it stay for ten minutes or so. Also if the weather changes, then have it reset to normal. Just my two cents, I think it would be awesome like everyone has already stated. It would add a whole new layer of gameplay in my opinion.

[Loke (DayZ) 4]

Finaly found a post about this. A tracking elemt should def be added. Aswell as vehicles leave tracks. For example. If the same rout is used in the forest by a vehicle eventally it should get grinded up by the tiers.

Add tracking elemt to it. Aswell as a dog that you can let smell of leftover soda cans etc to smell and get you going in the right direction. Maybe even teach the dog to be good att tracking a sertain type of animal or himan etc.

But yead thread maker got my beans.