Player starting with a Walkie Talkie to bring team chat ingame

[logan23 118]

Player starting with a Walkie Talkie and why….

The Walkie Talkie is the solution for players who are on a team who want to use voice chat.

The concept is that when you washed up on the shore you had this walkie talkie to be in contact with your friends but they washed up earlier or somewhere else.

Walkie Talkie using batteries?

This is one piece of equipment that might not need batteries because if they did and the player’s batteries are dead then players will complain they can’t talk to each other and will go back to a 3^rd party team speak. The Walkie talkie is aimed to allow the DayZ team to remove the 3^rd party team speak and put it in game.

All Walkie Talkies have the player’s name on them. This means if a player kills another they could one keep it as a way to show the number of kills and who but also the walkie talkie if picked up by the killer cannot get access to your team chat. If this happens the team can set the signal to a new frequency to remove the issue.

Walkie Talkies need to be sync up to each other. This means if two players meet up for the first time then can sync them up and be able to constantly keep in contact. You can only Sync up to one frequency unless you have a second (maybe from a dead player).

Hand held Radios are different then walkie talkies because Radios can use multiple channels and be able to search for signals in the area. The Radios would only be able to pick up signals- conversations based on a X number of distance. The other players who might get eardrop will hear a static which means a radio is searching the area for a signal. This static might be harmless but allows teams who catch it, to tell others to go silent.

Radios would need batteries to keep running. Radios can have multiple channels locked so you can keep in contact with your clan or some friend who are not in the clan without risking security.

Radios should also get tagged to the player so if they are ever found on another player then they know who killed the original.

Teams should be able to sync up walkie talkies offline or in a lobby or some form of mail service.

Let me know what you think,

Goal is to remove the 3^rd party team chat and bring it into the game from the very start of your spawn so friends can reach out to each other, after all these friends were also your friends before you ended up on the shore and if true then they would already be sync up to each other.

[Welch (DayZ) 756]

Or just use TS and save yourself time and/or confusion.

[WooleyWorld 56]

Welch pretty much shot that one down but I could see a use for it, much like the talking on a cell phone on GTA IV.

[*Exile* Sami 188]

Dear Welch, maybe you should think diffrently, and think of new ideas? And im pretty sure what hes also trying to say is to add a real survival/realstic feeling to it, and i agree, if this was added, i would so use the radio! But most people will never use it, because they will most likely stay in there TS the whole time.

Edited November 19, 2012 by samirocks24

[WooleyWorld 56]

Dear Welch, maybe you should think diffrently, and think of new ideas? And im pretty sure what hes also trying to say is to add a real survival/realstic feeling to it, and i agree, if this was added, i would so use the radio! But most people will never use it, because they will most likely stay in there TS the whole time.

I mean, sure, I loved the feature in GTA. It added so much realism when you saw your guy whip out his phone and had to wait for the other player to pick up.

I'd love to see it used in DayZ. Even Xbox has it's party chat system but I'd rather use the cell phone because it just adds.

Different strokes for different folks I reckon. ^_^

[logan23 118]

Or just use TS and save yourself time and/or confusion.

Dear Welch, maybe you should think diffrently, and think of new ideas? And im pretty sure what hes also trying to say is to add a real survival/realstic feeling to it, and i agree, if this was added, i would so use the radio! But most people will never use it, because they will most likely stay in there TS the whole time.

What I'm getting at is that DayZ would not allow 3rd party team speak.

The player must use the walkie talkie or hand held radio.

If this idea is successfully added and tweaked to fit the users goals/purpose then we don't need to have 3rd party team speak and it can be blocked.

Other ways to push for the walkie talkie/ radio use is to give it some benefits which the team speak can't, for example team speak will not allow you to try to listen in on other teams, or players conversations.

The idea does need some tweaking.

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

How many teams are gonna play a game where the third party software is blocked? If you use WT's in game find them first like all the other stuff, and how are you going to tell the difference of a team player and non?

Why block it? Ok it is unrealistic but so is a WT whos batteries don't run out!

Remove text chat for WT's and your on to a winner, but make them battery required, this will motivate the players to move around and not camp or hide in the woods! Make them have a few different frequencies allowing other players to stumble across yours and affect your playing!

When the third party players can't hear what your doing they will be at a disadvantage! They can rely on T or such to communicate but without a WT they are in the dark also!

[knifely 34]

I agree it could be a great addition, in theory. And it would add that extra realism.

I would change it slightly, and say it was like a real walkie talkie where you have to be on a channel, and anyone could be listening.

As far as authenticity goes that eould be the only way to do it. But, then people would definitely be drawn back to TS for the privacy.

I think its a great idea that's very difficult to implement.

[DragoKnight 5]

I do agree with the walkie talkies but I do disagree with some of this idea.

1.) Any player can find any frequency with a walkie talkie (like a guy starts going through frequency then finds one being used and can easily eaves drop or ask for help.

2.) Radios and walkie talkies make noise so other players can hear them, but a radio makes more noise so if one person is part of a group with one radio the others around him should be able to hear it and also speak in the radio as well as the guy holding it. The walkie talkies should emit a small amount of sound so if a person right next to the guy holding the walkie talkie should be able to hear it but cannot speak in it. Also gun shots can be heared from teh radio if the reciever gets shot at or firing at someone.

3.) If a guy kills another and takes there walkie talkie he can talk into it and talk to his friend or something like that so there is no ownership of walkie talkies or radios

[DemonGroover 8836]

I like the idea of being able to find a radio and then the Side Chat channel becomes active.

I dont really like the idea of starting with a WT or radio though - it sort of defeats the object of being washed up and alone.

[knifely 34]

Having to find one is definitely better.

And i just thought about what i said earlier about how the more restricted it is the more people will use teamspeak. But, it might be a great tool for lone wolves

[logan23 118]

Good points you have all made.

Let me see if I can find ways to resolve these issues.

The reason for Walkie talkies to be given at spawn is to replace the 3^rd party teamspeak.

I’m going to use some examples to help describe how it would work in game.

PlayerA and PlayerB are in the same clan/or friends.

In a way of the lobby of DayZ server where you could interact for example mail/ or lobby chat, PlayerA and PlayerB have asked for their Walkie Talkies to be Sync up to the same Channel (Channels = some number code).

This Channel code can be given out to other clan members or friends as you wish.

This Channel code cannot be picked up by other player’s walkie talkies.

(Ideally these Channel codes will be kept per server(s) hive that share the same world unless players can’t transfer characters from Server to Server, this is a topic I will be posting on in relation to the Standalone)

Radios are found and need batteries and can be modified to make better. You don’t start with them.

The only way for a player to be able to hear into someone’s Channel is through a Hand held Radio or a Radio found in a building (ones that can’t be moved).

Radios can scan for frequencies/channels but only in a area close to the player with the Radio.

Hand held radios can scan but they cannot pick up two players on their walkie talkies who are completely on the other side of the DayZ map.

Radios that are found in buildings that are unmovable can scan further then the handheld versions.

Back to PlayerA and PlayerB

If PlayerC has a radio they could use it to see if they can find a channel but as they do this-

PlayerA and PlayerB will hear some static white noise on them if in use. This static noise is just the Radio running across their channel. Does not mean they are listening in but someone in a certain distance is using a radio checking for channels.

Now if PlayerA and PlayerB meet up on the beach or town and don’t know each other and decide to work together, then they can sync up their walkie talkies to a channel where they can be in not talk and interact like a team speak.

If PlayerA dies due to a bullet or Infected, and the killer or random player comes by they can pick up the walkie talkie and could actually listen in on that channel with that walkie talkie. This is a danger for Clans who lose a player due to a gun fight. The clan will then wish to change their channel, which they can do.

(This is something that would need to be tweaked to allow players to have their team speak in game but also give some tension that they could be eardrop on.)

SideChat could become the TEXT universal Radio channel. I can totally see that! (Just have to make sure only players with radios can get access to it)

On the topic of multiple channels for walkie talkies, that’s something that would need testing on if done how many can you have. This would all go to the game’s code.

I know someone mentioned about removing TEXT chat for the walkie talkies but this would hurt players who don’t have mics. Not all players have mics. If everyone had mics then yes I agree.

The reason for not having walkie talkies run on batteries is due to spawn camping.

I can see how players would say oh, my walkie talkie (in game team speak) battery is running low, let’s go to the coast and kill a fresh spawn and take the batteries from their walkie talkie. You might even have a new spawn friend just allow their friends to kill them over and over to get a horde of walkie talkie batteries. This and the purpose of it to be the in game team speak is why no batteries should be needed for walkie talkies.

If for say Walkie talkies do need batteries, then the life time for them should be aimed to last longer than most players’ life expectancy or batteries should be a more common spawned item. The risk of batteries is players QQing since they can’t use their 3^rd party team speak.

What do you think,

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

I'm not a fan of having gear on spawn, but I see what you're getting at.

If the walkies are in loot and have to be found, players wouldn't even bother with them, they'd stick with TS.

Depending on your point of view or how strict you want to clamp down, using 3rd party chat software amounts to cheating.

(Using a 3rd party program to give your squad/clan an advantage in PvP = HAX)

I'd wager there's a cross section of people who would advocate TS/Skype over this (good) idea, while they call 3dp camera a "crutch".

Flameshield up

[Rastamaus 323]

Why not have the mic 'open' in game direct chat permanently with no option to mute it?

Permanent in game comms would mean teamspeak or not players close to you in game would hear your chat which would be far more realistic and really force players to think before they speak, this 4 - 6 guys spread all over the map talking away in 'game silence' just feels wrong.

One potential issue would be background noise, but then the only people to suffer from the effects of that would be the ones responsible for it and any nearby team mates, so i reckon this would police itself. I can see situations where a squad is flanking round a sniper say, in total silence and someones mom shouts random shit which is heard in game. That would suck, so you'd better just try to control your rl environment better.

edit - Walkie talkies are a great idea to enable chat over distance, trouble is people will just use 3rd party comms no matter what so what's the point?

Edited November 19, 2012 by Rastamaus

[logan23 118]

I'm not a fan of having gear on spawn, but I see what you're getting at.

If the walkies are in loot and have to be found, players wouldn't even bother with them, they'd stick with TS.

Depending on your point of view or how strict you want to clamp down, using 3rd party chat software amounts to cheating.

(Using a 3rd party program to give your squad/clan an advantage in PvP = HAX)

I'd wager there's a cross section of people who would advocate TS/Skype over this (good) idea, while they call 3dp camera a "crutch".

Flameshield up

I would like to see no 3rd party team speak in DayZ standalone only if they can make a system like I posted here to bring the teamspeak into the game so the blocking of it is justified.

[airfell 179]

Used the search function, and adding to convo rather than starting a new thread:

Communication Methods:

1. Remove all forms of chat other than Direct and Vehicle.

2. Add CB radios. Players can change CB channels, but never know who can listen in. These can be in cars/trucks or hand held.

3. Walkie talkies- As someone in this thread previously mentioned: These need to be synced in person. An entire group may sync them. (gives the same function as using TS/Vent/Mumble/Skype, but hey, why not)

4. PB radios (police band) and Scanners- Must be in an emergency vehicle or at a firestation/police station to send/recieve, scanners can receive only, but can also pick up walkie talkie frequencies.

5. FM radio, this is send only at stations, receive only in cars. (for fun possibly?)

6. Written communications. Requires pen and paper. Leave notes behind.

The idea behind these isn't to make 3rd party programs useless, or replace them, I use them with my clan, others will too, and there isn't any way to defeat that. The idea is to remove the pointless chatter from side chat, but still give players access to different means of communication across a server.(players that aren't teamed up)

Could create some interesting social experiences, which to me is what DayZ is about.

Edited January 24, 2013 by AirFell