Suggestions regarding survival options.

[Bower 4]

it's pretty much the same as seeing the face.

This is exactly why I like it so much. It's not so much that I'm mousing over their character to get a name but just mousing over to focus on their face/general characteristics that I can recognise. Great suggestions!

[thirdrd0@gmail.com 2]

Still not constructive. Using straw man is not going to help this discussion. Illness is not the same as pissing. The latter makes little to no difference to your chance of surviving the day while former is one of the first things you'd think about when faced with similar situation (even without zombies). You could argue that smell of urine could attract zombies but that's too much hassle for no gain. Nobody's dumb enough to go for a wee close to any zeds.

So yeah' date=' if you think that illness is a bad idea give a reason, mocking is pointless, which makes your post as valuable as spam.

[/quote']

how am i mocking? i am completely serious, adding urination and defication can add to the tracking aspect of the game

as well as diet, ex. drinking only soda and surviving should have some negative consequences on your health

It seems that I need to fix my sarcasm detector, my apologies. Anyway, I don't think that adding urine and stool would be really beneficial to the gameplay. Firstly, it's way too much coding, secondly it won't change too much for the reason I already explained - nobody's going to do any of this stuff anywhere close to the zombies, so it'd be only an annoyance. This game is supposed to be difficult and realistic, not annoying.

it's pretty much the same as seeing the face.

This is exactly why I like it so much. It's not so much that I'm mousing over their character to get a name but just mousing over to focus on their face/general characteristics that I can recognise. Great suggestions!

Thanks. I'd love to know if any of these features are planned to be implemented (in any form) in the game.

[panaetius 0]

Concerning seeing the name of others, how about you have a keyboard button that announces your name to people in your immediate vicinity (direct communication range maybe?).

They will then see your name when hovering over you instantly (if they're not too far away?), until one of you dies.

[thirdrd0@gmail.com 2]

I'm not sure if I understand it correctly. I press the button, and everyone in some given radius can see my nickname floating over my head. Why would I do that? If I'm a bandit I'll never press the button because a) I don't want to be seen and b) I don't want to give my identity away in case someone wants to take revenge on me. If I'm survivor I'll never press this button because I don't want to give away my position. Even if I'm standing and casually talking with some other bloke and we just want to share our names we don't know who's around, it could give away our position.

[Bower 4]

Zenon: I think that's a bit gamey. Aedrill's idea of just looking at someone you've met before is far more natural. I'm not sure how you'd determine that one players has met another player though. When scouting out villages I will often have survivors stroll past me without actually seeing me. It would be inaccurate to say that the survivor has met me in that instance.

[panaetius 0]

I'm not sure if I understand it correctly. I press the button' date=' and everyone in some given radius can see my nickname floating over my head. Why would I do that? If I'm a bandit I'll never press the button because a) I don't want to be seen and b) I don't want to give my identity away in case someone wants to take revenge on me. If I'm survivor I'll never press this button because I don't want to give away my position. Even if I'm standing and casually talking with some other bloke and we just want to share our names we don't know who's around, it could give away our position.

[/quote']

Zenon: I think that's a bit gamey. Aedrill's idea of just looking at someone you've met before is far more natural. I'm not sure how you'd determine that one players has met another player though. When scouting out villages I will often have survivors stroll past me without actually seeing me. It would be inaccurate to say that the survivor has met me in that instance.

Well, if I play with some buddies or run into some other survivors, the thing that generally happens is:

Say you're friendly in direct communication or chat

Ask if they want to travel together

Discuss what the plan is/where to go

Head on out

In a real situation like this, it would only be natural to tell them your name. Now i said a button, it could just a well be an action menu option when others players are in your vicinity (similar to opening someone elses backpack), but I wouldn't go to every survivor in a group of say, 4 people, and tell them my name seperately. If it is an action menu entry, the radius has to be pretty smal so as not to be exploited. As a survivor, you're already announcing your position when you use direct chat, so I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be used at your first meeting (direct chat is used, when it's not broken). Once I tell them my name, they'd be able to recognize my name when looking at me in the future, when they're close enough to see my face. But that's probably too hard to implement, that's why I say you should be able to recognize the names of people who have introduced themselves to you in the past when they're within a certain range and hover your crosshair over them.

I find this way more natural than just having the name of someone magically appear after looking at them for a while, and it would serve the same purpose. You'd only see them name when hovering your crosshair over someone who's introduced themselves to you on the past and who's in your vicinity.

I don't see a problem with this if the "introduction radius" isn't too big.

[xmaster 0]

Sir. I'll go straight to the point here...

... I LOVE YOU

Finally some decent suggestions that are actually HELPING the gameplay go where it should go.

And not some stupid stuff to make the game easier / cater to xbox kiddies.

[thirdrd0@gmail.com 2]

I'm not sure if I understand it correctly. I press the button' date=' and everyone in some given radius can see my nickname floating over my head. Why would I do that? If I'm a bandit I'll never press the button because a) I don't want to be seen and b) I don't want to give my identity away in case someone wants to take revenge on me. If I'm survivor I'll never press this button because I don't want to give away my position. Even if I'm standing and casually talking with some other bloke and we just want to share our names we don't know who's around, it could give away our position.

[/quote']

Zenon: I think that's a bit gamey. Aedrill's idea of just looking at someone you've met before is far more natural. I'm not sure how you'd determine that one players has met another player though. When scouting out villages I will often have survivors stroll past me without actually seeing me. It would be inaccurate to say that the survivor has met me in that instance.

Well' date=' if I play with some buddies or run into some other survivors, the thing that generally happens is:

Say you're friendly in direct communication or chat

Ask if they want to travel together

Discuss what the plan is/where to go

Head on out

In a real situation like this, it would only be natural to tell them your name. Now i said a button, it could just a well be an action menu option when others players are in your vicinity (similar to opening someone elses backpack), but I wouldn't go to every survivor in a group of say, 4 people, and tell them my name seperately. If it is an action menu entry, the radius has to be pretty smal so as not to be exploited. As a survivor, you're already announcing your position when you use direct chat, so I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be used at your first meeting (direct chat is used, when it's not broken). Once I tell them my name, they'd be able to recognize my name when looking at me in the future, when they're close enough to see my face. But that's probably too hard to implement, that's why I say you should be able to recognize the names of people who have introduced themselves to you in the past when they're within a certain range and hover your crosshair over them.

I find this way more natural than just having the name of someone magically appear after looking at them for a while, and it would serve the same purpose. You'd only see them name when hovering your crosshair over someone who's introduced themselves to you on the past and who's in your vicinity.

I don't see a problem with this if the "introduction radius" isn't too big.

[/quote']

There is no problem besides the fact that it's useless. If you're using direct channel you can just say your name using it. If you use the chat people already see your name. Your idea is basically a friend list, nothing more. It still won't give players the chance of recognizing people by looking at them, the ability everyone with working eyes has. And this is what this suggestion is for - to simulate, as well as possible, visible differences between people. I think that friend's list is completely useless in this mod. But that's only my opinion.

Sir. I'll go straight to the point here...

... I LOVE YOU

Finally some decent suggestions that are actually HELPING the gameplay go where it should go.

And not some stupid stuff to make the game easier / cater to xbox kiddies.

Um, thank you... I think?

I do hope that this is a direction this mod will head, regardless if any of the suggestions will be used. I just want this game to be more difficult and survival oriented. Mostly because I hate zombies as a theme in general but I think that it would serve the game well to go down this road.

Well, now I'm blushing.

[panaetius 0]

There is no problem besides the fact that it's useless. If you're using direct channel you can just say your name using it. If you use the chat people already see your name. Your idea is basically a friend list' date=' nothing more. It still won't give players the chance of recognizing people by looking at them, the ability everyone with working eyes has. And this is what this suggestion is for - to simulate, as well as possible, visible differences between people. I think that friend's list is completely useless in this mod. But that's only my opinion.

[/quote']

Well, but why would you want a visual distinction between people? To tell friends from foes easily, or in other words, people you trust from people you don't. Or am I wrong here? If this is the case, the main purpose of an identification system should be to easily discern known friendlies from other players

Now if you looted a place with your friends and ran across someone not in your group, in a real life situation, you'd be able to recognize your buddies instantly. The 1.5 sec delay would still put you at a disadvantage when running across a hostile player (i.e. the time it takes you to identify him would be enough for him to shoot you, imo). If you lower the time you'd just arrive at the system like it currently is, which is broken immersion-wise.

The best solution, of course, would be actual visual differences to discern that make every player unique and recognizable, but that won't happen in this game.

You should really be able to recognize other players instantaneously when they're close enough to discern their features (and if you know them). That seems the most realistic to me. The further away they are, the more time it would take you to identify them. Whatever the solution, it should be dependent on distance and be instantaneous when someone's close enough (I'd say the time it takes you to read a name is on par with the time it'd take you to recognize a face).

For me it'd just seem unrealistic to stare at someone for some time and telepathically see their name, that's what I think is solved by the "friend list", as you put it.

Maybe a system where you can "tag" someone after studying them for a while, and then seeing the tag when hovering over them (depending on distance) would be a good compromise? That way you'd see your buddies John and Tim as "John" and "Tim" when hovering over them, and you could tag others with "Bandit", "Unknown", "Possibly Hostile", whatever. Which would reflect the way we'd approach others in a real life situation pretty well.

[thirdrd0@gmail.com 2]

Well, your idea makes sense but is incredibly difficult to code/balance. Mostly because you don't know, while coding if person you tagged isn't hiding from you. If he/she is, then tagging might be a terrible disadvantage. Anyway, I've seen system similar to the one I gave working in Project Reality and it really works. It feels like you're looking at the guy and trying to figure out who he is. Now let's say that you heard rumours about some famous bandit who's incredibly pro and shows no mercy. IRL you'd be given his description but it won't happen in game. So instead you're given his name. And after some time you see a guy who didn't notice you. You look at him for a moment and you see his name. Now, if you remembered the name of this bandit you realise it's him and you can hide/engage depending on what you want to do.

It will also help with creating bonds between players. Another example. You're in trouble. Maybe because of zombies, maybe bandits, never mind. You're in the open and you're pretty sure you won't make it, you start to plan what to do after respawn. And then someone appears, you think he's gonna kill you but you don't really care. But the guy says he's friendly, takes care of your wound, gives you some cooked meat and maybe even some ammo. You're in the open, so it would be stupid to stand around and add each other to friends list. This blokes goes his way before you had a chance to thank him and you're still too weak to go after him. Now with my system you've seen his name just by looking at him, with your system you might never know who the hell was that and that's really shame, don't you think? Sure, you can ask him on the chat but it still doesn't require your system.

EDIT:

About recognizing your mates instantly, I missed that. In most situations you will see people from distance. It's ArmA, if you see the guy 50 meters away you're either dead or he's friendly. Which means that neither my nor your system would work on short distances, definitely not for simulating differences in people's appearance. And when you look at someone from 100+ meters away you have to spend some (even if very short) time to recognize him, even if it's your brother just to rule out possibility of making a mistake.

[RaviN (DayZ) 9]

> i was thinking and instead of catching an illness due to whatever reason, what if everyone spawned with an infection, this would be the the beginning of the end!

* exactly like the way you have to keep yourself topped up on food/water/blood.. (eg an image in the bottom right for your infection level, like the one you have for food/water/blood..) now how about you gotta keep an eye on that infection too, this shouldnt be that hard to code into the mod?

* medication/antibiotics/herbs etc would lower your infection, however over a time period of say 1 hour, your infection goes up a little.. eating/drinking contaminated food/water will raise your infection level, additionally each time you are hit by a zombie, your infection goes up a little too..

* the symptoms would be what others have suggested - coughing, sneezing, blackout/fainting and then eventually dying..

this would make the infection another key factor of the game.. I WANT DRUGS NOW! xD

.....................................

> what i would also like to see is when a player dies - his body then becomes a zombie :rolleyes:

[thirdrd0@gmail.com 2]

> i was thinking and instead of catching an illness due to whatever reason' date=' what if [u']everyone spawned with an infection, this would be the the beginning of the end!

* exactly like the way you have to keep yourself topped up on food/water/blood.. (eg an image in the bottom right for your infection level, like the one you have for food/water/blood..) now how about you gotta keep an eye on that infection too, this shouldnt be that hard to code into the mod?

* medication/antibiotics/herbs etc would lower your infection, however over a time period of say 1 hour, your infection goes up a little.. eating/drinking contaminated food/water will raise your infection level, additionally each time you are hit by a zombie, your infection goes up a little too..

* the symptoms would be what others have suggested - coughing, sneezing, blackout/fainting and then eventually dying..

this would make the infection another key factor of the game.. I WANT DRUGS NOW! xD

.....................................

> what i would also like to see is when a player dies - his body then becomes a zombie :rolleyes:

I don't know... This idea isn't bad, and it makes sense in some way - it's a dirty world and we're all doomed, yeah. But look at the leaderboards. 1st in the Longest Survive section is 55h 36m. Which means that even now, without any illnesses or any of the suggestions given by us in this thread and many similar ones we're completely unable to survive for 3 days. We're pretty doomed already, IMO. I suggested illnesses to add 1) a challenge, 2) realism and immersion and 3) new ways of strategic thinking. If you're able to prevent illness how much risk will you take to do it? Will you set up a camp and sit down next to a fire for several minutes? Or maybe you'll go to some town during rain to wait indoor? Or maybe you'll take your chance and when you get ill you'll just look for some meds? But what if you sneeze during scavenging? Do you see what I mean? Give players the risk, a real one but also give them the options so they can actually play the game.

I'd love to try it your way as well though. If illness will ever be implemented I'm going to get infected right after respawn to see how it plays.

[RaviN (DayZ) 9]

just ideas..

> what about canabilism, cooking dead teammates.lol survivall is survival!

-humanity points

[thirdrd0@gmail.com 2]

humanity points, some sort of illness with big chance of happening and some visual hint for other players. I don't think that eating other people has no effect on your mind, even in extreme situation.

[Lady Kyrah 1110]

The only way i could see to make this work in arma, is to be able to add your current teammates in a squad i think...

[RaviN (DayZ) 9]

All i see is WOOD :/

wood is now spawning everywere instead of supplies that are actually usefull ^

i think it would be better if you could actually walk up to a tree and get wood seen as we are surrounded by woodland, or maybe just spawn wood in the woods?