Playing at night

[frosti 2165]

fuk nitetime.

seriously.

that is all

[dgeesio 1034]

The 24 hr time format is good as its unique a not like "Other games".

Night is a core part of DayZ as it adds another challenge to the game.

DayZ is meant to be hard and night shows one part of it.

lol 99 percent of servers dont use night cycle as it effects the rankings of server or number of players leave before it gets too dark.

what should be done is make all run night cycle as part of the game.

[Spentmind 23]

If they remove night time, or put it in 2 hour cycles I'm going to be pissed, playing at night time with or without nvgs is an absolutely amazing experience.

[Udak 104]

I would have no problem to play on populated server at night.

* But there is no fun, since 80% of every server will just use the exploit.

- Thus the reason you never see any flares or chem lights.

If people played the game legit.

* It would be awesome, but that is not the case.

Personally, I use the exploit.

* Change brightness, gamma, hdr.

- Why?

Because everyone else is doing the same thing.

* If your armed with rare weapons and great gear, your not going to give any chances to someone that is using the same trick.

- Personal Suggestion -

* If rockets is going to bring back the setting to the standalone.

- Do not let people change the settings over 1.0

- Or they would just be kicked from the server.

- Or just have the limit set to 1.0

First off, it's not an exploit--stop terming it that, it makes this whole thing seem illegitimate. It's a setting in the game that is easily changed without messing with configs (do you consider FOV swapouts an exploit? I CAN USE MY PERIPHERY IN REAL LIFE). It's a poor adaptation to compensate for the fact that despite Arma2's emphasis on realistic night darkness, there is no process set in place for your eyes adjusting to how freaking dark it is (despite there being a mechanic of eyes adjusting to darkness after taking off NVGs...though that is literally measured in the seconds and laughably shorter than it should be).

YOU WILL NOT SEE CHEMLIGHTS UNTIL YOU ARE WITHIN 100m OF THE PLAYER.[As an edit, this is actually the maximum distance a chemlight can be seen--given the player is stupid, and using the super bright green chems, instead of the more stealthy blue chems that only show ~30m away] Most servers that are staggeringly dark (that is, require player-used chems to traverse, even with gamma/brightness set to max) also have astonishingly low player counts, further reducing the chances of bumping into another player. And no one in their right mind uses flares, for the same reason that no one in their right mind uses the flashlight. Flares can be seen from kilometers away, and with their short burn time (10mins), spying one means you know someone has been there recently. Open hunting season. If you ever actually see a flare and don't adjust your position accordingly (either setting up likely kill zones or defensive positions), you're doing it wrong.

There are two distinct narratives on this thread--people who think that upping gamma is just a miraculous cure-all that makes it easy to operate at night, and people that think night is too dark. As someone who ups gamma to max at night time, I can say emphatically it DOES NOT MAKE NIGHT TIME PLAYABLE ON ALL SERVERS ALL THE TIME. I would guess maybe 20-40% of the time, the sky is clear and moon is up in such a way that upping gamma makes it possible to run around w/o lights. If there are clouds, if there is no moon, absolutely not.

Keeping the setting locked at 1 (which, again, I had previously thought was a server-side setting anyways, a max allowed brightness/gamma) does not address the issue but mere its symptoms--the problem is that it's too dark at night. Keeping the night but preventing people from changing it (using just chems without increasing gamma/brightness sucks dick, if you haven't tried it. Upping the gamma/brightness means that the meager amount of light emitted by teh chem goes a lot farther on the screen) only enhances the hand of NVGs...and I think we're gravitating away from superduperitems like that, given that the l85's AWS has been taken out and replaced with a simple holo.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Udak

[kalashinkov 34]

The 24 hr time format is good as its unique a not like "Other games".

Night is a core part of DayZ as it adds another challenge to the game.

DayZ is meant to be hard and night shows one part of it.

I hear you , but most people wont and can't play at night .

PS Don't mind the signature .

Edited February 10, 2013 by kalashinkov

[svisketyggeren 662]

Use ur flashlight or a glowstick...if u wanna lit up a town u only need 10 roadflares scattered around...its really easy to overcome nighttime

This reminds me of how some players reacted to nighttime on Mortal Online...here we had a game where nighttime wasnt light gray like in every other carebear crap game out there, its was actually nighttime like in the real world...if there wasnt any moonlight, it was black and u needed a torch to see. And its so funny how players act totally helpless when they experience this in a game...when in fact they experience the same thing in the real world all the time.

Edited February 10, 2013 by svisketyggeren

[humandirty 18]

If batteries were added to the nvgs and the gamma/brightness abuse was addressed then I'd be much more likely to play at night. It sure adds to the intesity when you are using flashlights, flares, and chems and not being murder by people with unlimitied nvgs and even worst the guy with brightness maxed.

[entspeak 374]

Ok, first of all I hate that the game is on a real-time 24 hour day night cycle. Why not make it an hour or two like other games? I want to be like "oh shit it's getting dark. I better find someplace secure for the night." Not "oh shit it's getting dark. I guess I'm done playing for today since I don't have NVGs."

That said, for those of you who aren't scared of the dark, don't have NV Goggles and refuse to turn up the gamma on your monitor as a cheat, let's discuss tactics, strategies and experiences.

When I first started playing DayZ all the servers with the best pings for me were night for me at the times I could play, so... I learned to play the game at night.

Tactics... well, for getting around, you learn to read the treeline, the stars, the buildings and roads to know where you are and where you're headed. A compass is essential at the very least. If you don't know the map, either the in game map or the map at DayZDB work wonders.

I go with chemlights, using a flashlight only when necessary (the military flashlight being best). I go with blue chemlights because they emit the hardest to be seen from a distance... they also don't attract zeds as much as the others. I stay out of Cherno, Elektro and the NWAF (unless, I'm feeling really bold).

I also wish people couldn't exploit the gamma and brightness, you lose an element of the game that way. It's much freakier playing at night when you are forced to use a flashlight or chemlights. But, it's a fun dance with the zeds. I remember the first time I looted every lootable building/tent in Stary by flashlight... it was an intense experience.

Edited February 10, 2013 by entspeak

[MOS182 63]

I hate playing at night just because I can't see a thing, even when I have my torch out. So annoying trying to run away unarmed from zeds.

[frosti 2165]

My only concern during night is that players that recycle military zones will have Night Vision Goggles and will easly hunt down players that do not have NVG's.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Frosti

[Chips- 58]

If batteries were added to the nvgs and the gamma/brightness abuse was addressed then I'd be much more likely to play at night. It sure adds to the intesity when you are using flashlights, flares, and chems and not being murder by people with unlimitied nvgs and even worst the guy with brightness maxed.

sure

btw pro paint user here

Edited February 10, 2013 by Chips-

[Udak 104]

I hear one more person complaining about how gamma is 'abused', I'm going to lose my mind. You apparently have never used it (AND IT'S NOT ABUSE CHEEZY PETES ARE YOU PEOPLE EVEN SLIGHTLY AWARE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STOCK FOV AND AN FOV OF 90), because for chrissakes it doesn't do much. It's certainly not the be-all, end-all fixer like you think it to be (or like NVGs are).

And because chemlights are hardwired to 'pop' in at a certain distance (for the 3RD TIME THIS THREAD), Gamma or magical pixie dust will not make them visible beyond the distance they 'pop' at.

[Pandema 352]

I use the max gamma for two reasons

1. Moonless night is pitch black and nobody enjoys wandering the woods in that

2. All the bushwookies with their NVGs and DMRs come out to play, trying to level the playing field a bit.

[bfisher 561]

I actually didn't know that about the chemlights. Usually I just toss a flare to light up an area (and maybe a few others as diversions). I believe the hissing of the roadflares attracts zombies too.

[willey.erd@oundleschool.org.uk 506]

This reminds me of how some players reacted to nighttime on Mortal Online...here we had a game where nighttime wasnt light gray like in every other carebear crap game out there, its was actually nighttime like in the real world...if there wasnt any moonlight, it was black and u needed a torch to see. And its so funny how players act totally helpless when they experience this in a game...when in fact they experience the same thing in the real world all the time.

Yeah, but IRL your eyes would slowly adjust to the darkness. You'd be surprised at how much you can see in almost pitch black nights after half an hour without seeing any artificial light (apart from red, which is the reason why military flashlights are this colour). Any flare or such like would blind you for a good few minutes until the night vision came back. I agree with most of what you're saying but ArmA (not really DayZ's fault) is doing it wrong.

[jubeidok 495]

I see a lot of sissies in this thread. Get over your fears and there are a lot of amazing experiences to be had at night.

Every time I browse these forums I can't help but ask myself, why are these people even playing this game?

And for the record, you can hide from nvg. As long as you are still u can effectively sit in the middle of an open field and not be spotted by nvg. Basically, if they're moving and you're not, they don't see u.

[Kaptan 38]

DayZ is simply at its best at night. I absolutely hate it when servers are locked to '24/7 Daylight'.

[bfisher 561]

I see a lot of sissies in this thread. Get over your fears and there are a lot of amazing experiences to be had at night.

Every time I browse these forums I can't help but ask myself, why are these people even playing this game?

I have to agree. I've had a lot of really cool scary shit go down at night. But it's not for the faint of heart or the unprepared. Don't be that guy on side chat all like "uh...how do I use my flashlight?"

[Sackwhich 3]

I wouldn't mind seeing DayZ go with an accelerated clock. It would be great to make adjustments for day/night within a single game session. The accurate time thing is cool in concept, but it just leads to people not playing in the dark enough

[bsturak2@verizon.net 86]

I use to hate the dark, but then I just tried it and realised it wasnt that bad. Its a lot harder for zombies to see you too. I didnt even have NVGs. A flashlight and car head lights are enough. But thats just my opinion.

And honestly, I would not like a quickened time system. I play this game because it's realistic, and I want to keep it that way. I like the feeling I get because I think, "What would I do in real life",.

Edited February 11, 2013 by crackpotpeach

[St. Jimmy 1631]

I think it is easier at night. Zombies can't see you that well and they go after flares so it's pretty easy to survive in towns. Just don't throw flares right to the spot where you're heading or the zombies will surround you. But I agree the pitch black part of the night time is a bit overdone.

I really hope that there will be flashlights that don't sway like a crazy in your hand. I believe it shouldn't be hard to make headlights in this game except if the light mess up with the Arma's "eyesimulator".

[boxman80 964]

I loved playing Day Z when it first come out when you HAD to play on which of the handful of servers had a spare slot, regardless of time of day. As I'm in the UK and play mostly on an evening this menat i was suualyl playing at night. However it just added to the appeal of teh game and back then NVGs were a myth as they were rare as rocking horse shit!

For me, having players forced to use flares and chemlights really added to teh atmosphere and I loved it! It still brings back fond nostalgic memories when I see a flare lit up in the dark in Day Z even now. So for me the only problem with night time is night vision. Right now you know that anyone playing on a night server is either playing with NVG or is very wreckless/using gamma controls. For me take away NVGs from the game and get everyone at the same disadvantage at night.

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

People have stated that the darkness in DayZ/ArmA2 is unnatural, and TOO dark. I can see where you're coming from, but I chalk it up to restrictions within ArmA2.

IRL, when the moon is full it reflects a LOT of light, and makes it easier for our eyes to adapt.

But that's not always the case. There are some nights, (whether due to an eclipsed stage of the lunar cycle or an overcast sky) you just can't see shit.

It also doesn't help that light in ArmA2 doesn't bounce off all textures. You can see this clearly if you shine a torch inside a house.

If moonlight can be implemented more realistically, and the SA fixes light reflection issues, night will probably become more than just the time folk decide to run away from servers.

I personally enjoy the pitch-darkness and flares. It's only spoiled by the fact that everyone else is probably rockin' NVGs or gamma boosting.

My tactic usually consists of throwing a deck of 10 flares in random directions.

It tends to allow for reasonably easy looting without letting anyone pinpoint your location.

Obviously someone will know I'm in the area. But with it being night time, most tend to either shit it and run, or come looking for me and find nothing.

EDIT: And at night, I've yet to meet a friendly player.

Edited February 11, 2013 by Chabowski

[digitalx 0]

Have not played at night time much, the first time i did was honestly REALLY scary, and I'm 23! I could make out trees and a road, but that was all.

[Udak 104]

Yeah, but IRL your eyes would slowly adjust to the darkness. You'd be surprised at how much you can see in almost pitch black nights after half an hour without seeing any artificial light (apart from red, which is the reason why military flashlights are this colour). Any flare or such like would blind you for a good few minutes until the night vision came back. I agree with most of what you're saying but ArmA (not really DayZ's fault) is doing it wrong.

True story, navy uses blue for it's command centers on boats, because blue is even harder to see than red (and consequently, less useful for lighting things up). Army/most ground forces use red lights (and red-light readable maps) because red DOES fall off in the distance, but it also still makes things visible, moreso than blue.

Modern-day NVGs are just a single (monocular)-mounted to a helmet. This is to prevent both eyes from becoming used to the NVGs and being completely useless in the event a flare goes up (you'll absolutely blind yourself looking at a flare w/ NVGs). In this manner, one eye becomes accustomed to the night and, over a period of time, has some form of night vision while the other eye sees 'relative' daylight.