DayZ Developer Blog 8th March

[Private Evans 1303]

On topic, I dont think seasons would be *fully* implemented but temerature changes/cloud cover (possibly shaders?) could be altered to represent seasons just dont expect fallen leaves in autumn or snow in winter. :)

Rdgs

LoK

I don't think changing Chernarus into a winter map would be too difficult..basically you just have to go through all the textues and replace them with winter textures and add snowfall and stuff ( mainly textures as well)..

Edited March 15, 2013 by Private Evans

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

Yeh, re-texturing the whole map does sound easy when you put it like that....

[Katana67 2907]

Just slap Namalsk on to the northern border of Chernarus... or is Namalsk an island?

[Private Evans 1303]

The same goes for summer and spring ( the current map is autumn)...changing the seasons could be handled serverside (updating the game for the season)...

[Private Evans 1303]

Yeh, re-texturing the whole map does sound easy when you put it like that....

a game developing studio should be able to create a complete new set of textures...if you have a look at the arma resources (textures) we are not talking about jillions of textures... :P

[timboski 618]

New dev blog pls :)

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

I didn't say they're not capable of doing it, I for one would love nothing more than to see Chernarus+ during the winter but it DOES take a hell of a lot of work and for now they have way too much else to do.

In the future though, who knows, I'd certainly love to see it.

[attorney1977 311]

a game developing studio should be able to create a complete new set of textures...if you have a look at the arma resources (textures) we are not talking about jillions of textures... :P

It's not just textures - they would have to model snow drifts everywhere and replace all the tree models, plus updating the sounds. Lots and lots of work for a map that has over a million objects in it.

I heard Chernarus took over 2 years to complete, so that's your most likely time frame.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Horde

[Private Evans 1303]

It's not just textures - they would have to model snow drifts everywhere and replace all the tree models, plus updating the sounds. Lots and lots of work for a map that has over a million objects in it.

I heard Chernarus took over 2 years to complete, so that's your most likely time frame.

Sorry but this is nonsense..they would not have to build a complete huge map from the scratch like they did with chernarus, but only to change the look of it...trees, rocks, roads, landscape textures, grass and buildings for example would only need new textures not new models and we are talking just about a few hundred textures. Of course it would also require more stuff like new sounds, new weather etc but I think this could easily be done within a few months and would not require a full team workinh on it all the time....

For me this seems to be the fastest way to add a new experience to the the game without creating new maps which indeed takes a long time...

just my thoughts

[osallivan 74]

It's not just textures - they would have to model snow drifts everywhere and replace all the tree models, plus updating the sounds. Lots and lots of work for a map that has over a million objects in it.

I heard Chernarus took over 2 years to complete, so that's your most likely time frame.

Don't confuse BUILDING a map with REPLACING TEXTURES for an already built map. Even if it does has "over a million objects" (which it does NOT, not even nearly...) most of those object are duplicates, which means it is a matter of replacing ONE texture which will change like 100 models on the map (i.e. Change one tree texture, and boom, all of the trees are white and snowy). You just have to do it for every texture (yes, there are quite a lot of them, but it is just a month of work, or about so).

Yeah, probably it will require additional sounds and additional stuff besides just replacing the textures, but it is not going to take 2 years... Not even half a year...

Edited March 15, 2013 by osallivan

[osallivan 74]

lol, Evans, you just restated me lol. I posted a few seconds after you :D

Edited March 15, 2013 by osallivan

[mzltv 2281]

Edited March 15, 2013 by mzltv

[Private Evans 1303]

have a look here for a possible summer look

http://www.armaholic.com/forums.php?m=posts&q=10119

[RedNome 443]

Can't we just ask Matt to run around with a can of spray snow and some Tipex?

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

Don't forget the game mechanics would have to be changed too, otherwise what's the point? The whole reason I would like to see winter in the game is because of all of the new challenges it would bring in terms of survival (less meat, water freezing, requiring warm clothes ect.) that's not a quick job.

Also, it isn't just a case of textures, snow on buildings ect would require a model, it's not as easy as just painting stuff white, snow has volume.

And then there's all the complexities involved with implementing all of this authentically so it adds to the game and isn't just a gimmick. Like I say, it's all possible, and hopefully it's something we'll see at some point but don't underestimate what would need to be done to make it happen.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Fraggle

[dgeesio 1034]

realistically 3-6 months for snow winter theme to cherm map.

rather have other maps tbh like taviana and namalsk. those two maps have had such a impact on the mod and keeping large amounts of players keep playing when they probably would of stopped if it was limited to just churno.

[terrvik 2409]

I don't care how awful a winter season would be as long as skiing is introduced.

[osallivan 74]

Don't forget the game ...... be done to make it happen.

No one is underestimating. Like we said, we understand that it will require additional work besides just replacing textures, but what we say is that it should not take more than like half a year... You can make a decent game in 2 years... we are talking about tweaking a map here.

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

As I said it's a tad more than tweaking a map. Anyoo, let's face it none of us really have a clue how long it would take.

I blame Rocket for this by making us wait for the next devblog for too long, we know he's a perfectionist when it comes to the devblogs so I'm sure the next one will be release in 3d.

[mzltv 2281]

It will be filmed in 5K, and released in a case with a 3D graphic of Rocket bumming that pillow from the mocap video. It will be available soley at HMV, and wrapped in silk cellophane.

[Bat (DayZ) 230]

Concerning the seasons, Arma 2 : ACR already have a modified version of chernarus set in spring or summer. Only like a small part including cherno, though. Redoing the whole map would be a lot more work than what people imagine.

[Tigger (DayZ) 24]

It's not just textures - they would have to model snow drifts everywhere and replace all the tree models, plus updating the sounds. Lots and lots of work for a map that has over a million objects in it.

I heard Chernarus took over 2 years to complete, so that's your most likely time frame.

It doesn't have over a million *different* objects. Essentially- changing ground textures is easy. Load them up one by one, desaturate some a bit, change others into snow... Trees are much harder. You'd need to make all new models- especially for winter. Probably new damage model as well. IIRC all the snowed-over trees in Namalsk are conifers for which it is enough to tweak textures. After you are done with that, something will break so you need to run around a bit and fix a corner here and there. But the principal problem is that after you are done the snow still has 0 depth. But we can live with that I'm sure. Although actual snow with depth would be amazing... in 2025.

[SmashT 10907]

I'd rather they spent their time on a new map or something cool like underground base building rather then making another version of Chernarus+ set in winter :/

Edited March 15, 2013 by smasht_AU

[Tigger (DayZ) 24]

Don't forget the game mechanics would have to be changed too, otherwise what's the point? The whole reason I would like to see winter in the game is because of all of the new challenges it would bring in terms of survival (less meat, water freezing, requiring warm clothes ect.) that's not a quick job.

Also, it isn't just a case of textures, snow on buildings ect would require a model, it's not as easy as just painting stuff white, snow has volume.

And then there's all the complexities involved with implementing all of this authentically so it adds to the game and isn't just a gimmick. Like I say, it's all possible, and hopefully it's something we'll see at some point but don't underestimate what would need to be done to make it happen.

While I agree with the second part, you are clearly not a programmer. Your first part - clothes, meat, temperature, ... takes minutes to change.

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

While I agree with the second part, you are clearly not a programmer. Your first part - clothes, meat, temperature, ... takes minutes to change.

Changing numbers would be easy I agree. Actually changing numbers in a meaningful way is something else entirely and can break the balance of a game. I don't need to be a programmer to understand that.

Also, being a programmer doesn't mean you have a deep insight into how every game works, or why they are popular. I've played games made by pure programmers and for the most part they suck because making a good game requires a whole heap of talents including innovation.

Being a programmer just means you're a programmer, nothing else.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Fraggle