More options/trade offs to promote the fantasy of characters/classes.

[dxs 2]

First off, I am not suggesting some kind of class system for Dayz, where you start off as a mechanic or healer etc etc that have special abilities over other classes. Or some way of gaining skill by doing certain tasks.

I do like how everyone is on a level playing field, where your survival is determined on your personal ability AND the items you hold.

However, the problem I find with Dayz is everyones basic goal for their character is to get a ghillie, a nice primary, a sniper in the backpack and a full tool belt. There might be some slight deviations from this, but there is basically only one general character outcome.

I find such a restricted character path to remove the 'fantasy' of who I want to be in Dayz. A good reference to what I am saying is in an interview with Harvey Smith explaining why Deus Ex 2 sucked compared to Deus Ex 1 (watch from 3:45)-

Given that in Dayz you define your character by what items you have, there should be more trade offs between items so I live out my fantasy of being a certain character.

For example (probably all mentioned before):

1) Shoes. Shoes that have two variables - Speed and sound. Have 3 types of shoes, the normal spawn shows which are normal speed and sound, hiking shoes which allow you to travel a bit faster over terrain but are louder, and gym shoes which are a bit slower but quieter.

2) Non lethal weapons. Tazers, knock out darts/arrows etc. Maybe have that the knock out darts take 20 seconds to come into effect, and you can use an epipen or something similar as an antidote. Basically when knocked out you will be passed out for a minute or two.

3) Body armor that slows you down.

4) Weapon weight, makes u slower or faster.

5) Eating/drinking - fast or slow (fast is louder, slow is quiet if you prefer stealth).

6) Limited slots in the toolbelt to make me choose between certain items. (who do i want to be?)

At the moment, the toolbet allows me to be the Animal Hunter, the Mechanic, the Trapper, the Navigator etc. You just fill it up, no restriction, its just a collection game. I think it would be good to expand this and have tools for healing, servalance etc. And with limited slots you have to think, do i want to be the mechanic, servalance, hunter.. or should I take healing stuff instead of being the hunter, or bit of everything. It promotes the fantasy of the character.

7) Variety of clothing

So from this, via the items, I could create and play as a certain character.

Do I want to be:

* The stealth slow non lethal guy, who creeps up to people knocks them out, loots them and ditches the loot in town for the fun of it.

* The armoured slow brute who wants to battle

* The lightweight hunter sniper.. so I can get up to the airfield, take out some players, then take their gear and swap my stuff to brute stuff and wait for a car to come by and take it out.

[plrsniper 87]

I agree with specializations. I just have a few different views on how this can be achieved.

1) Shoes.

First, let me point out that the story behind is much more complex than the actual implementation. Your average player need not be concerned with the underlying mechanics.

You spawn without them, or rather you have something called your feet. These are silent and fast but have very low protection and durability, if you wear them out you become unable to run and eventually unable to walk. They can get infected (which would make you ill) and they can cause slight bleeding. Letting your feet rest will slowly regenerate them to their original state.

Feet are affected with or without footwear in different ways, it's recommended to have footwear when traveling or in harsh weather but at times it might be beneficial to remove the footwear to allow your feet to rest/regenerate faster.

Your feet have different stats that are affected depending on environmental factors and the actions of the player.

• Wear: As in, your feet are under stress. Your muscles ache, your soles are worn, you get blisters and/or pressure "damage". Wear increases as you walk/run and requires resting to return to normal levels. Certain footwear will reduce the effects on this stat.
  
• Heat: If you move during hot weather or run a lot your feet start to sweat, this causes wear. Walking without shoes will reduce heat levels quickly. The heat of your feet are directly affected by your characters temperature level. And likewise, your feet affects the temperature of the character.
  
• Blistered: A true or false statement, if your feet are blistered you need to rest them or risk gaining an infection or other negative effects. Resting will remove the blistered stat eventually. You lose some speed when your feet are blistered unless you forcefully sprint. Sprinting with blistered feet will increase the chance of increased damage and negative effects.
  
• Pressured: A true or false statement, your feet are swollen from having lack of circulation or being under increased stress. (carrying too much weight or been running for extended periods of time) Resting will eventually remove the effect.
  
• Sprained: A true or false statement, you have suffered damage from a jump or having stumbled on something. You are unable to run, resting will remove the effect and alternatively you can wear more comfortable shoes until the effect is gone. Even without rest or comfortable shoes the effect will eventually pass but it will pass faster with increased comfort or rest.
  

Different footwear have different stats/effects. Here are some of the stats/effects i would propose.

Positive effects

• Durability: The higher durability the footwear has, the longer they last. Durability is in direct proportion to the shoes protection level described below, the lower the protection the faster they wear out in ever rougher terrain.
  
• Protection: The higher protection, the less likely the wearer is to get damaged by walking/running on rough terrain or on trash/junk. The footwear lasts longer on rough terrain because of this as well.
  
• Comfort: The higher the comfort, the longer the wearer can travel without wearing down his feet.
  
• Speed: This value determines how fast the wearer can move with this footwear.
  
• Breathing: Footwear with a high degree of breathing will resist heat related effects better. Thus reducing wear on the feet.
  
• Environmental: High values resist the environment better. Hot and cold weather alike. It resists rain (which has similar effects to hot feet) and water. (standing in a pond or swimming etc)
  
• Stability: The more stability the footwear offers the less likely you are to stumble on something or suffer damage from a jump.
  

Negative effects

• Weight: Doesn't just apply to footwear and is part of the bigger picture which i will get to later. Increased weight will increase fatigue. Usually comes as a downside to high durability and/or protection.
  
• Noise: The higher the noise levels the more likely zombies and other players are to hear you running. A perfect example would be running in high heels or clogs, that is sure to make some noise!
  
• Size: This is not "size 12" shoes but related to how much inventory space they take up. (Inventory space which i will get to later and is related to weight)
  
• Comfort, Speed, Breathing, Environmental and stability can all be negative. For instance, you might have shoes with high degrees of durability and protection but they might not be comfortable and have much speed. Running without them would be more comfortable and faster. (but obviously offer no protection)
  Or as with high heels and clogs, they offer negative stability increasing the risk of damaging your feet from stumbling or jumping.
  

So you have a variety of footwear with different up/downsides.

• Boots: High values of durability, protection, environmental and stability. Comfort depends on the type of boot. Speed is reduced, weight is high, boots are large and have generally bad breathing capabilities. (but not exclusively so) Are quite noisy though, some boots more so than others.
  
• Running shoes: Lower durability, protection and stability. High comfort, breathing and speed. Offers little protection from the elements, in cold weather it is advised to stay on the move. Lightweight and rather small. Very quiet.
  
• Sandals: Low durability and very low protection. Comfortable unless running, very high breathing but low speed. Offers no protection from the elements and no stability. Somewhat noisy.
  
• Regular shoes, offers medium levels in all stats but are small in size and comfortable. Can be found everywhere but tend to be worn out or damaged (that is, they have some kind of very negative stat)
  
• Rags: A piece of cloth wrapped around your feet. Offers some protection but has very low durability.
  
• High heels, clown shoes, clogs, swimfins etc: These are just gimmicks, might be better than going bare foot and in the case of swimfins (a special case) you swim faster.
  

Now to reiterate, this system may seem complex but in general you as a player shouldn't need to worry too much about it. You find a pair of shoes and can right click them to view their stats. And you wear them if the stats seem alright to you.

To check the status of your feet you simply right click the feet slot in your inventory and click "examine feet" and it will tell you something like:

"Your feet are in good condition" - "You don't need to do anything"

"Your feet are warm to the touch" - "You don't need to do anything"

"Your feet are wet, they are hot, they feel slightly sore" - "You could do with a quick rest, possibly remove your shoes for a short period of time as you rest"

"Your feet are cold, they have blisters" - "You should stop and rest and remove your shoes to allow them to heal"

"Your feet hurt, you sense that they are sprained" - "You should stop and rest, putting on more stable shoes may help with the sprain"

"Your feet have blisters, they are bleeding, touching them hurts a lot, you sense that they are sprained, they are really hot, they are wet" - "You really need to stop and rest for a while, take off your shoes and stay put"

No matter what it says, you won't be bothered too much by the system unless you can't run. All other negative status effects just make you move slightly slower and slightly increase the risk of loosing small (really insignificant) amounts of blood and getting an infection.

If you can't run due to sprained ankle your character will say something like "Fuck that hurts" and will stop. IF you really NEED to run you can do so by sprinting but you will fatigue much faster (increased food/water consumption and heavy breathing which causes your aim to degrade) and your feet will need to rest MUCH longer.

2) Non/Less lethal.

Totally agree but would add more than just darts and tazers. Bats (to knock people unconscious) and melee combat. Pull ropes to trip people and BB guns to distract them with. Etc...

But this is most likely coming in SA as Rocket has been positive towards the idea.

3) Body Armor

See below

4) Weapon weight

Implement the weight system present in ACE, everything weighs something and everything takes up space.

Remove all the toolbelt slots and force items to be stored in the backpack. (which in ACE doesn't have slots, just volume and weight) To use a tool you would need to bring it into your single tool slot. Leave thr watch, compass and map slots obviously but binoculars, GPS, rangefinder and hatchet are now tool slot items etc.

As i mentioned above, footwear has weight and size too. You can have different types of footwear in your backpack but that consumes space and will weigh you down.

A toolbox might not be the best idea to bring with you, there is already a suggestion to make the toolbox, magazines and other items into their own containers. So if you need a wrench and/or a screwdriver you bring them separately but if you need an entire toolbox (using one would gain you some space, but weight you down due to the practicality of having a toolbox) then you bring the whole thing.

5) Eating fast/slow

Nice idea, should be used in conjunction with the "food may make you puke if consumed too often/fast" idea on the forum. Which also deals with food becoming a regeneration over time item rather than an instant effect.

6) Limited toolbelt slots

See #4 above.

7) Variety of clothing

Rocket already intends to add clothing to the game.

Clothing could (should) have similar effects as footwear, you have silent and light clothes and you have heavy and warm clothes etc.

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

I would add something more substantial to the discussion, but all the feet-stats gave me a nosebleed. :lol:

Generally I would assume this is the kind of development that could hold player's interest in the long run.

It allows everyone to chop and change their roles as the situation requires, without any fixed presets.

I'm guessing it's the "class-based" suggestions that people tend to turn their noses up at.

The only major drawback I forsee is the number of variables that would need to be introduced to carry the system.

All in all, a very worthwhile suggestion, in my opinion.

Welcome to the forum.

EDIT: The invisible war did suck. JC was supposed to be ginger. I should know, I was there!

Edited January 4, 2013 by Chabowski

[plrsniper 87]

Oh, i forgot to mention that any system can be introduced gradually. You could start with shoes with different running speeds and protection levels and gradually implement features around that.

The same with anything really, but you have to have a design goal. You work out some details so you know where you are heading and as you head there you may or may not alter the plan.

And sharing your design goals (those that you are bound to work on right away) can be a very rewarding process as other players give feedback (good or bad) and come with alterations to make it better for them. Some might point out the not so obvious flaws and others will see certain pressure points of the new system, be it CPU intensive, net code heavy, lag sensitive or outright too cumbersome.

[captainwaffles 41]

Ok I understand we all want realism but the game should still be fun to play Im sure alot of us dont want to stop and check everything on our body

[plrsniper 87]

Ok I understand we all want realism but the game should still be fun to play Im sure alot of us dont want to stop and check everything on our body

Well i wouldn't mind. And you would only check if you notice a problem. Like in real life when your feet start hurting bad. You have a look and you notice a two-three inch blister filled with blood and your skin rubbed halfway off your heel. Your sock has merged with the blood and skin and you can either pull it off quickly and pull most of the skin with it or soak it in hot water and carefully work it off bit by bit.

And you also notice your nails are blue and start coming off your toes.

(At least that's normally what i see when i check my feet when it gets too painful to move)

Edited January 5, 2013 by X0TCadde