Restoring Civilization

[jesquik 75]

In regards to a number of forum posts and discussions I have seen in-game, I think that there needs to be some goals that help make survival more enjoyable. Survival is the ultimate goal, which ultimately makes people leave the chaos of the cities in search of their own havens.

If we look at Maslow's Hiearchy we see that Dayz starts you at the bottom, and with a little luck and skill you can take care of your physiological needs within a couple hours. What if the game also incorporated the next level fully, that of Safety.

What players end up doing is using whatever game mechanics they can to achieve this level of fulfillment - usually by building tent camps with all of their goods stored in a secret location or hiding their helicopters off map. Wouldn't it be interesting if we could improve on this to create real safety (albeit a tenuous one.)

What if players could band together to restart the power plants at the major cities? Obviously this would take a significant effort involving the fixing of vehicles to transport parts and fuel, regular runs to collect wood or coal or other fuel to power the city.

Why would people want to do this? Give them a good reason! Here are some possibilities:

1) Zombies will not spawn in a lit city

2) Increased spawn times

3) Factories can be used to create things

4) Atmosphere

5) Gear is safe from theft while there is power in the city (when power goes out riot ensues)

An additional benefit is that survivors would flock to cities that are lit, and revel in the safety. Why is this a benefit? Because where survivors flock, bandits will follow. Bandits may even start their own cities so that they too can have a safe base of operation, but I expect they would rather hide in the darkness with NV goggles, waiting to pick off stragglers or plan an attack on the city.

Sure, you might not be out gaining loot from the local military base, but you will have fulfilled the goals of the next level of the Maslow pyramid: security of body, employment, resources, morality, health, and property.

I understand that this might be something impossible on 50 person servers, but it would be fun to have with ARMA3!

[Senrain 148]

I like this suggestion, but I do not think it would be able to be implemented.

[jesquik 75]

I like this suggestion' date=' but I do not think it would be able to be implemented.

[/quote']

I understand how it might not be possible with the current engine and commitment from Bohemia, but it may be possible as part of the continued direction of this game. Maybe not anytime soon, maybe not until ARMA 3, but I see no reason it can't happen.

Thanks for the input :)

[bgivenb 5]

^do you know anything about the engine itself, or are you just speculating? Arma 2 (vanilla) already has a town capture system, as well as a very nice construction system, and (enter island name here) life (mod) already has factories where you can build stuff, and since the towns already have lighting functionality, you could use a pseudo vehicle that looks like a generator and uses fuel. It would take some work, buts its certainly not impossible

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too often people underestimate the versatility of the engine

[jesquik 75]

^do you know anything about the engine itself' date=' or are you just speculating? Arma 2 (vanilla) already has a town capture system, as well as a very nice construction system, and (enter island name here) life (mod) already has factories where you can build stuff, and since the towns already have lighting functionality, you could use a pseudo vehicle that looks like a generator and uses fuel. It would take some work, buts its certainly not impossible

[hr']

too often people underestimate the versatility of the engine

I am not very familiar with the engine or it's capabilities, so I'm glad you provided this input. I don't think it's impossible or I wouldn't have posted it to torture everyone with a good idea. I probably would be able to help code it, as I code for a living, but I honestly wouldn't know where to start and I just got interested in this mod this week :)

[tenbucc2 0]

Some next level stuff for sure. i like the idea.

[dantoramandova 19]

When placing down an extremely rare "generator" it should stop zombie spawns within the next 100*? meters. There should only be around 2/3 on a server. They could be placed within someone's base (factory in cherno) to make it easier to secure the position or you could put like 3 in elektro to make a civilized, military state free of zombies and only key members can join. This generator could also make an engine sound, called "generator" within the editor. People can hear it from like 10 meters away.

Once placed, only a person with an electrical kit can remove it,.

I tried making a base in the factory north of Dolina, but the zed spawns were just too frustrating. Securing certain key positions could be very useful.

[jesquik 75]

When placing down an extremely rare "generator" it should stop zombie spawns within the next 100*? meters. There should only be around 2/3 on a server. They could be placed within someone's base (factory in cherno) to make it easier to secure the position or you could put like 3 in elektro to make a civilized' date=' military state free of zombies and only key members can join. This generator could also make an engine sound, called "generator" within the editor. People can hear it from like 10 meters away.

Once placed, only a person with an electrical kit can remove it,.

I tried making a base in the factory north of Dolina, but the zed spawns were just too frustrating. Securing certain key positions could be very useful.

[/quote']

I think you have the right idea in regards to setting up generators, but I think that actually building bases in post-apoc woudl be incredibly difficult. It would make much more sense to use what is already created and start rebuilding from there.

In regards to what you said about generators, I would love to see city specific generators/powerplants that people can work together to get them running and continuously fueled. While it is a nice idea to want to setup your own base, I think encouraging people to work together for a common goal would be exciting. Convincing enough people that you won't kill them, and believing that once a city is going you won't get shot and outcast would be an amazing dynamic.

I also just love the atmosphere that would be created by a lit up city. Maybe one per server if people really worked together. And to think of the chaos and heartbreak when the bus that was supposed to be bringing back fuel gets hijacked by bandits and everyone is killed - leading to the city shutting down and the zeds coming back!