Purely Hypothetical: A Different Approach to DayZ

[funky_mish 75]

Let me start by saying this is not a suggestion, a request or anything like that. I love DayZ as it is, and the direction it's heading in. I am a happy player, this here is just something I thought about that might spark some fun and interesting discussion. Just like some of us once enjoyed talking about "imagine if someone made a hardcore permadeath zombie survival game."

How would DayZ work if the devs took a more hardcore, realistic approach to what a player can carry?

This has been touched on before, that the inventory slot system is kinda odd; (again: I understand why, It's part of the balance of the game to make it fun) you can carry a rifle, a pistol, ammo, cans of food and canteens of water, a tent, a hatchet, some firewood, a car wheel etc etc around everywhere between your pack and your uber deep pockets.

So imagine if this was toughened up. For example, pack capacity is majorly nerfed (basic pack size now = ALICE size) and tools such as binoculars, hatchet etc take up the same slots as everything else. This could be balanced in part by making tents quite a lot more common, but also requiring that players stay within the confines of the map to avoid 'secret' camps. More on that later.

I imagine this would create really different styles of play to what we see now. Group play would be really beneficial as you split carrying duties. One guy has the food, another has ammo, another one has a part or the car you're trying to fix up etc. And strategy comes with that. When a bandit stalks a group... can he identify who has what role and who he wants to take out? If one guy is carrying the bulk of the group's medical supplies, he'll be an ideal first target.

Solo play would still be possible, but would rely more on those more common tents, as they'd need to establish a camp where they can store the things they can't carry. If you can keep your bulky food reserves in the woods, you free inventory space to pick up other stuff.

Maybe you'd get 'pacifist bandits', who follow people not to kill them, but to plunder their tents when they're unguarded.

Anyway, I just enjoyed thinking about where that might go. It would have a whole new set of problems I know, and that's another reason why THIS IS NOT A SUGGESTION OR A REQUEST.

If you're about to comment "this post was pointless", "stop bitching" or something similar, please don't bother. Just move on to a thread you like better.

[CosmicOsmo 1]

I would expect that DayZ will eventually have an encumbrance system based on weight as well as the slots limit. This is how it is done in the most popular ArmA mods (ACE) and will be a core feature in the ArmA3 engine.

[funky_mish 75]

Oh, that's cool! Sort of like Fallout 3, if you ever played that.

I actually hadn't thought of that. It makes a lot of sense and would be a great feature.

Another thing I also liked was the way inventory slots worked in Deus Ex. You got a grid, and each item had a shape as well as slot number. So sometimes it would get awkward. "I have enough slots to add this hatchet to my inventory, but it's too damn long!"

[zak757 146]

The inventory slot is kind of messed up. An Epi Pen should take up no space at all, a Flashlight should take up maybe 2 slots, a freaking helicopter rotor assembly shouldn't even be carryable.

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Managing inventory space is already sufficiently challenging when you start doing advanced things like repairing vehicles - and there are more mechanics to come like entrenchment, structure building, etc. The practical upshot will simply be more trips back and forth between storage and task. Needles tedium...

I'm not really interested in playing Gear Menu Manager 2013.

Good post though.

[funky_mish 75]

The inventory slot is kind of messed up. An Epi Pen should take up no space at all' date=' a Flashlight should take up maybe 2 slots, a freaking helicopter rotor assembly shouldn't even be carryable.

[/quote']

Very true. I'm now thinking of a mechanic whereby something that big can be carried by two people very slowly. Impractical to take anywhere without, say, a fixed up pick-up truck to move it around! It would make getting a working helicopter even harder lol.