DayZ Devblog 15th February 2013

[joe_mcentire 2073]

That sounds like something you would say, Sergey.

HAHA...that was my thought!

[Private Evans 1303]

I ain't your Sergey, dude. Rub your eyes and look again.

M8 this is a running joke...Sergey Titov is the beloved guy behind WarZ :P. .Let's forget about the Npc's for a while and discuss something else ( except skill trees and perks)

cheers

Edited February 19, 2013 by Private Evans

[joe_mcentire 2073]

well i had that idea of a set of skills.... :D

[Private Evans 1303]

Haven't seen a thread like that around here. There's bits and pieces spread out in other unrelated threads though. BIforums is your best bet but I have a feeling you've been there (ssshhhh, don't mention DayZ to those guys). The SA might not support community made maps for quite a while.

Thx mate, strange enough for a mod forum :P . I saw some of the guys like Sumrak posting on the Arma mod forums, just thought things like planning maps for the SA would be better placed here. However I know that it will take a long time before modding will be implemented but creating a large new map will take even more time..so better starting now :)

[Private Evans 1303]

well i had that idea of a set of skills.... :D

You had too much sparkling wine.... :D

[WizardLyfe 28]

Really cant wait to see a screenshot of a military outpost! Great work guys!

[tarr 42]

Rocket's leaving in 40 days for Everest , 6 weeks is 36 days so hopefully yeah, around the end of March/beginning of April.

No way can they get the alpha out, do all the testing they may want to do, fix whatever needs fixing and release within a month. With Rocket leaving in six weeks, I wouldn't expect DayZ out till May at the least, maybe even June if not later.

[ravey 24]

Is there not going to be a tutorial for the standalone? How will you stop new novice players from giving up on the game if they don't recieve a quick run through of the basic controls?

If you the whole tutorial idea is hated, will a 'tooltip' overview be available to give new players an idea how to get around?

Edited February 19, 2013 by Ravey

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

No way can they get the alpha out, do all the testing they may want to do, fix whatever needs fixing and release within a month. With Rocket leaving in six weeks, I wouldn't expect DayZ out till May at the least, maybe even June if not later.

They're close and they've got a good workrate. I can see it happening, have faith.

[slivniku@gmail.com 93]

No way can they get the alpha out, do all the testing they may want to do, fix whatever needs fixing and release within a month. With Rocket leaving in six weeks, I wouldn't expect DayZ out till May at the least, maybe even June if not later.

Spielverderber

[tarr 42]

They can have as good a workrate as they wish i still don't see it happening. I for one don't trust their description of 'close' anymore as they have been 'close' for nearly three months. They still have things in development to finish before they even start testing, and if they want to do a proper test it WILL take a while. Not even counting the time it takes them to fix whatever they discover needs fixing. Couple that with their lead designer (or whatever Rocket is nowdays) leaving the project for an extended time period.. Just being realistic here - we are at least three full months away if not more.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Preathor

[lipemr 160]

Is there not going to be a tutorial for the standalone? How will stop new novice players from giving up on the game if they don't recieve a quick run through of the basic controls?

If you the whole tutorial idea is hated, will a 'tooltip' overview be available to give new players an idea how to get around?

i started directly on dayZ, didnt play ArmA nor any mod related to it, and i'll tell you, the best weeks you have in the game, are the ones you spend learning the controls and the mechanics. A tutorial would just screw all this up.

No tutorials, FFS.

[ravey 24]

Well I also started DayZ mod without playing ArmA. If I hadn't had my gaming community and Teamspeak to get a little help I would have given up within a day.

The first time I started to play I entered a night server which is very difficult to play if you are a first timer.

Don't forget that not everyone that will play this game will be able to take to it like a duck to water. It might not need a full blown 20 minute tutorial. But it Will need notes and tips that pop up to let you know how to use the inventory system.

[Sula 1205]

I couldn't agree more, Ravey. Basic help is always useful. :thumbsup:

[gesundheitk 420]

Well I also started DayZ mod without playing ArmA. If I hadn't had my gaming community and Teamspeak to get a little help I would have given up within a day.

The first time I started to play I entered a night server which is very difficult to play if you are a first timer.

Don't forget that not everyone that will play this game will be able to take to it like a duck to water. It might not need a full blown 20 minute tutorial. But it Will need notes and tips that pop up to let you know how to use the inventory system.

This idea is pretty much best. I just don't think there should be, as you said, a 20 minute tutorial on everything. You should just get a popup that doesn't interfere too much that informs you on things like controls, etc. and can be disabled at any time

[Zeppa 562]

Sure it would be "best" if there was no npc/quests etc etc. But it becomes problematic when there is these cod kids, that are not willing to play a part but just troll for lulz.

Some example would be larp, how well do you think that would work when there would be guys trolling around... not well, you can try to ignore them but you cant block or stop them ruining the game.

If there would be npc's and some "small" quest/mission stuff it comes more casual(which is not good in everyones mind) and those cod kids could play those quests as in "regular" games and not troll so much other players...

In larp exsample that wouldnt work as the cod kids come there just for troll, in this game they are to play it.. at least most of the time, trolling comes second.

Its lots of ifs but thats the way it is.

I think these are the two sides of the coin...

Edited February 19, 2013 by Zeppa

[Private Evans 1303]

This idea is pretty much best. I just don't think there should be, as you said, a 20 minute tutorial on everything. You should just get a popup that doesn't interfere too much that informs you on things like controls, etc. and can be disabled at any time

nah..it was so much fun when my team mate and me finally found out how backpacks really work..."nice I've found a new backpack but why isn't there more space avaible in my inventory now...wtf... :D"

I am sure the SA will have pretty simple and intuitive basic controls like a drag and drop inventory etc so a nice small wiki should do it.

Sure it would be "best" if there was no npc/quests etc etc. But it becomes problematic when there is these cod kids, that are not willing to play a part but just troll for lulz.

Some example would be larp, how well do you think that would work when there would be guys trolling around... not well, you can try to ignore them but you cant block or stop them ruining the game.

If there would be npc's and some "small" quest/mission stuff it comes more casual(which is not good in everyones mind) and those cod kids could play those quests as in "regular" games and not troll so much other players...

In larp exsample that wouldnt work as the cod kids come there just for troll, in this game they are to play it.. at least most of the time, trolling comes second.

Its lots of ifs but thats the way it is.

I think these are the two sides of the coin...

My dream...no hud...no crosshair..no questsskilltreesperksnpc's...no 3rd person..no teamspeak/skype = no CoD kids.

[codestargod 102]

whut he done just said...

Precisely my point.

"The devil finds work for idle hands (and moronic COD groupies) to do".

Differentiate the various activities for all possible groups, and you stand a better chance of keeping everyone occupied and on task, and not spoiling the fun of others.

Edited February 19, 2013 by codestargod

[Private Evans 1303]

:D no we should try harder to make them hate this game....cod kids do also not play arma and I am pretty sure nobody is missing them ( this includes the BI devs)

[Bat (DayZ) 230]

A tutorial in DayZ? It won't happen, and it's against the philosophy of the game.

The first part when you start a new game, is look for the controls in the option menu. Now you have your controls. So you don't need a tutorial anymore right?

I remember the tutorial in Dark Souls, which has a really clever game design and is one of the few games that doesn't take players for total retards.

You have 2 or 3 popups in the very beginning that tells you "well this button is for attacking, and this one here is for blocking. Now figure out the rest of the game."

It's more of a joke tutorial, something that makes fun of all those games where you can't take 2 steps without being told what button to push and what action will result (think assassins creed, that kind of stuff).

EDIT : my point is, if DayZ was to have a tutorial, it should be something that gives you clues on what you can do in the game, not a wiki that explains you every detail in lengths. A few "begginner notes" left in your first character inventory, for instance, would do the trick without breaking immersion.

Edited February 19, 2013 by Bat

[Cinnabuns 45]

Similar to what I have in mind, but the integral piece of the unlocking feature is the NPC. The player locates the key by discovering the message/clue/hint. This spawns the NPC character and the "easter-egg" hunt begins. Although other players will be able to interact with it, they will not have sufficient information to complete the quest as they are missing the initial key. After a timeout, the NPC spawns out.

Spawning an NPC on the map or actually multiple becuase this would be happening with different players... so then you have greifing of players that just go around killing NPC's to quash people's quests. Its better to not involve NPC's at all. Lets face it, they don't belong in tHIs game. They're done to death in other games. Let's set a trend for future game develpment instead of using stale old game principles that are have been rehashed thousands of times; boring.

The thread Joe linked on page 10 of this thread has one of my ideas in it and some other good ones that don't involve NPCs.

Edited February 20, 2013 by Cinnabuns

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

If you're so adamant about keeping players "on task" that you feel the need to designate their roles, you ARE spoiling the fun of others.

[Cinnabuns 45]

Sigh... I am wasting my time. It's like going around in circles. Just read my previous posts. The idea of 100% player dependent game play is a bad idea in the history or bad ideas. It will only work in the most ideal of situations where all players share the same ethos and agree to maintain this ethos indefinitely. Sure, this may work initially when the game still enjoys a certain degree of novelty, but what will you do when an integral segment or user cooperation breaks down as players find new interest.

We all know how fickle gamers can be. Why on earth would you risk the success of a game on something as unpredictable as user involvement?

Player involvement oscillates between peaks and troughs like the stock market. And even within those cycles, you have certain periods where different player ethos' assert themselves. Having a non-player dependent mechanic will at least help to maintain a viable number of users logged on sharing the same ethos in completing quests, until the next major peak comes around again.

HA! yeah, no NPC quest givers, I guess that's why Minecraft is such a failing game, no quests.... Think about what you're saying, dude.

Inventivness on the players part IS the driving force. NPCs are one dimensional drivel IMO. There are fresher, better ways to do this with the player base. Just because NPCs is what we're "used" to doesn't mean its the best/future solution to the issue.

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

The exasperated "I'm wasting my time" is usually the signal that someone's cognitive dissonance can't allow them to admit they're wrong, is it not?

Freedom, exploration and creativity are far more important than tutorials, instructions and "quests".

[Private Evans 1303]

As someone else stated before...comes the day modding will be implemented people can go and add npcs/quests, 1000+ vehicles, skilltrees or whatever they like ( even zombieponies)