DayZ Double Developer Blog 14th May 2013

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

Wasn't there supposed to be a large scale test yesterday? I would have liked to hear how that went, rather than have to endure people talking about some useless argument that makes no difference in the development of the game in any aspect of the word difference. Who is Rhinocrunch? Why is his opinion being valued so much? I don't know who he is, I don't care who he is, I don't want to know who he is. Let's never get this sidetracked by useless people with useless opinions ever again. How did the large scale test go?

[SmashT 10907]

Wasn't there supposed to be a large scale test yesterday? How did the large scale test go?

Basic synopsis:

From our (bohemia) perspective it was a huge success. The server/client architecture approach has been entirely proven - with no noticeable negative impacts which is a massive win for us.

However, the test was unstructured so many people involved were probably confused about what was being tested and there were many bugs, such as animations bugs with weapon holding that meant weapons can't be fired, etc... Also zombie attack animations weren't being broadcast so users could not see this.

Edited May 30, 2013 by SmashT

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

Thanks for the response! :). Where was this information? (In case I just missed it). Are these considered minor, quickly fixable problems?

[SmashT 10907]

Thanks for the response! :). Where was this information? (In case I just missed it). Are these considered minor, quickly fixable problems?

Posted on Reddit, I got the impression they are relatively minor, we were told to wait 30 mins originally so they could fix them but that got rescheduled to later today with a more structured test.

Edited May 30, 2013 by SmashT

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

Alrighty well that's exciting to hear. The most difficult part seems to be handled. Hopefully any bugs like that continue to be minor and we should see the alpha ready quite soon! *fingers crossed* #nosolidexpectations #patience

Edited May 30, 2013 by AnarchyBrownies

[SmashT 10907]

I'm going to merge all the RhinoCrunch replies into a single topic as it's not really relevant to the dev blog at all. Don't be alarmed. Continue discussion there.

Edited May 30, 2013 by SmashT

[DaGolem 95]

What if zombies were made more of a threat in SA? /whisper They are!

Yeah, i know ;)

With harder and more Zombies in getting more difficult and that is realy realy good, but the problem is that looting must be possible for 1 person alone, so Zombies can´t act to hard.

A Game element like Salvation City (but in a much much more harder way) can be the one thing that forced to Teamplay and prevent extrem PVP Gaming.

The TaserWeapon from BreakingPiont is a another brilliant Idea to shutdown the kill on sight problem.

Another Idea that i read about was radioactive Zones also a very good Idea for more diversification.

Agriculture and ranching is another good idea.

I like the original DayZ very much but let see it clear, it has a lack of teamplay (grup on with strangers) & longtime motivation.

There is a Reason why Mods like Origin & Breaking Piont getting so much popular and getting more and more players.

Dean Hall and the Dev Team are well advised to take a very very close look why and which elements make them so popular. ;)

DayZ is always the same, collecting, repair & with a major focus on pvp and this is not enough! DayZ can be one of the greatest Games of all Time but it has to break the limitations.

My personal fear is that the DayZ SA will be the same as DayZ, only with more of the same elements. Don´t get me wrong i like DayZ but DayZ SA must be a great leap forward and Origin & Breaking Piont show´s good ways to forced the teamplay and bring much more variety into the gameplay.

<...break...>

Btw. Stop talking about Rhino ;)

Edited May 30, 2013 by DaGolem

[Ninjamark 15]

^ please just let Whini Crunch die, we all want to put his face into a blender. But he isn't worth the time

OT:

I love that door barrickading idea?

I mean, most games you do a baricade, takes like 10 secs for other players to undo them so whats the point.

I can see clans make a base out of buildings for sure!

Imagine fully barricaded and traped up 10 storie apartment building, a clans hideout, so you know someone is always on

Do you try bust in and steal shit?

do you join?

do you avoid it?

Even better, its a radio station and you want to get in and ask to get a message out to a friend

*drool*

^ I like this idea more than the idea of "owned" underground bases

As your "base" would always be targetable it would definetely encourage teamplay.

Of course to keep the balance barricades would have to be somewhat diffucult to do, dependding on how hard they are to take down.

Someone tweet this amazeballs idea to rocket?

[Ironhuge 69]

Posted on Reddit, I got the impression they are relatively minor, we were told to wait 30 mins originally so they could fix them but that got rescheduled to later today with a more structured test.

How about posting the info in the offical dayz forums? why use twitter and reddit?

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

How about posting the info in the offical dayz forums? why use twitter and reddit?

It could be that there are just not enough people checking the forums. It may be low traffic here. Whereas twitter and reddit may have a lot of traffic and generally it's not expected that you have to write so much. It's just faster and gets the messages out to more people.

[duggedank 28]

S I read the discussion on server hopping here. Is it actually true that no one so far has suggested locking your player position to each server?

If every server remembers your positions separately you can no longer ghost efficiently unless you go completely overboard and set up a complete net of locations on a hole bunch of servers just to enable you to ghost people. Would people actually bother doing that?

Because I do understand the reasons for allowing us to switch servers. Switching servers simulates a higher number of different people without clogging the entire map full of players. As you will have a higher chance of meeting new people that jumped servers instead of knowing everyone who plays on your server. And it avoids issues such as you wanting to play a little and find that your favorite server is completely empty or full to the brim.

So, store your character position on all servers that character has visited before dying. Any new server you join would place you on the coast.

It would be best to store that on the client in order to avoid the servers getting overloaded with millions of player positions, but client side means hack friendly so maybe not after all...

Just a suggestion, that I haven' seen before, for some reason... And darnit, I allowed myself to get dragged out from under my rock again. I guess I'm excited over DayZ after all... I can't hide it... :blush:

[Katana67 2907]

Yeah, i know ;)

With harder and more Zombies in getting more difficult and that is realy realy good, but the problem is that looting must be possible for 1 person alone, so Zombies can´t act to hard.

A Game element like Salvation City (but in a much much more harder way) can be the one thing that forced to Teamplay and prevent extrem PVP Gaming.

The TaserWeapon from BreakingPiont is a another brilliant Idea to shutdown the kill on sight problem.

Another Idea that i read about was radioactive Zones also a very good Idea for more diversification.

Agriculture and ranching is another good idea.

I like the original DayZ very much but let see it clear, it has a lack of teamplay (grup on with strangers) & longtime motivation.

There is a Reason why Mods like Origin & Breaking Piont getting so much popular and getting more and more players.

Dean Hall and the Dev Team are well advised to take a very very close look why and which elements make them so popular. ;)

DayZ is always the same, collecting, repair & with a major focus on pvp and this is not enough! DayZ can be one of the greatest Games of all Time but it has to break the limitations.

My personal fear is that the DayZ SA will be the same as DayZ, only with more of the same elements. Don´t get me wrong i like DayZ but DayZ SA must be a great leap forward and Origin & Breaking Piont show´s good ways to forced the teamplay and bring much more variety into the gameplay.

Looting will always be hard for one person, as it should be. If people have to rely on stealth to enter towns, vice just bolting in and counting on walking zombies in buildings, they'll actually have to take their time. This is what I did before I realized zombies walked indoors. Plus if looting were difficult for one person, you'd think that would encourage teamplay in itself?

To be honest, and this is my opinion, I found everything (with the exception of construction) about Origins to be poor. Taviana as a map is terrible and uninspired. I really don't think a non-zombie staffed area in Chernarus would work, nor would it "encourage" teamplay any more than what we have now. In my mind, having systems in place to increase individual reliance on others would do this. Simply having an ambient WoW-esque raid location doesn't fulfill that need. Rocket has said as much. Plus, the "teamplay" you describe only really applies differently than vanilla DayZ in Salvation City. Outside of that, you get the same exact interface we have in vanilla DayZ.

Furthermore, the opposite of PvP is PvE not "teamplay". I know plenty of teamplay clans that PvP their hearts out. I know plenty of solo players that don't even touch PvP if they can.

Origins and Breaking Point are novelties, albeit relatively innovative ones. It's not that vanilla is less fun, it's just not lasting. Whereas with mods, there are new experiences to be had, thus some of that initial giddiness returns. I know, I've tried many a mod and gotten bored with them in far less time than I became stagnant with vanilla DayZ. People play them because there's new stuff to do, not because they offer a "better" experience. Origins offers construction and Taviana. BP offers more weapons, that's it. Nothing else advertised about BP works currently. Other than that, they're the same thing as vanilla DayZ. All of the same "collecting, repair, & major focus on PvP" you mention is still there. In fact I'd submit that it's exacerbated by the ready availability of weapons in BP and poorly thought out placement of new high-end loot spawns.

What will discourage wanton PvP, is what Rocket has stated. Hard and unforgiving mechanics, sparse loot, rarer weapons and ammunition, managing disease, managing hunger and thirst moreso, and all the other additions of SA. Plus, you can't both call DayZ boring and then turn around and say it's too focused on "extreme PvP".

DayZ is special because it allows players to fill roles, such as having players be roving bandits rather than just copping out and having them be NPCs. If they were NPCs, they'd have set patterns and thus would be predictable. You can't interact with them in a manner other than, shoot or die. That seems backwards to me when you're advocating against the same drawbacks of PvP.

The two main grievances people have against vanilla DayZ as a game are that there's too much deathmatching and there's not enough "end-game" stuff to keep players occupied.

The latter feeds into the former, because people get geared and there is nothing left for them to do besides kill people. They don't have a hard time surviving, they don't have to marshal resources, they don't have to maintain their gear, they don't have a hard time repairing vehicles. There are no camps to maintain, there is nothing. Most if not all of this is being remedied in SA.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Katana67

[Katana67 2907]

So, store your character position on all servers that character has visited before dying. Any new server you join would place you on the coast.

This is exactly what was suggested and discussed earlier. Some folks found issue with it encouraging deathmatching by teleporting geared players immediately to the coast if they server hop, thus facilitating killing newspawns.

I don't exactly agree with it. But it's a fair point.

[Katana67 2907]

I love that door barrickading idea?

I mean, most games you do a baricade, takes like 10 secs for other players to undo them so whats the point.

I can see clans make a base out of buildings for sure!

Even better, its a radio station and you want to get in and ask to get a message out to a friend

*drool*

^ I like this idea more than the idea of "owned" underground bases

As your "base" would always be targetable it would definetely encourage teamplay.

Of course to keep the balance barricades would have to be somewhat diffucult to do, dependding on how hard they are to take down.

Someone tweet this amazeballs idea to rocket?

I agree. You raise an interesting point with the radio station. What good will this new mechanic be, if one cannot exert control over a radio station? The radio station needs to be able to be fortified to allow artful individuals/groups to fend off bandits who seek to gain control of the radio station. If a player/group logs out, leaving the radio station entirely undefended, what's the point of having one?

Barricades should be difficult to make and difficult, but not impossible, to destroy.

There should be varying levels of protection, like starting out with easily scavenged "chain-link" fencing to use as a door to keep casually geared intruders out. This would have the drawback of being easily defeatable (wire cutters) and able to be seen/shot through. Upgrade that to plastic sheeting, which would be still easily scavenged but able to be defeated (toolbox and/or rifle fire) easily and would not allow people to see inside your building. Upgrade that to wooden planks, which would be harder to scavenge, as you would have to hone raw wood logs into planks or scavenge them from industrial areas. This would provide a medium-level of coverage which could be destroyed with enough damage from a grenade or specific shotgun breaching round if further secured with a door lock or padlock. Gradually progressing up to a steel door, which would be difficult to scavenge for suitable armored plates and/or welding materials. Steel doors/windows would require something like a satchel charge to defeat which would risk losing some of the loot inside. This could also be tied in with a keycode locking mechanism like in Origins, which requires a battery to power. Thus requiring the player to scavenge for new ones when the old one dies, leaving the base vulnerable. Plus, would add a bit of intrigue in the divulgence of a clan's keycode.

Oh, and plus... it'd always be possible to camp a fortified house and wait for the players inside to open the door... blast away, and walk through the open door!

Something like that. But it'd have to be scripted for each house (i.e. Chernarushouse1 has 4 windows and 1 door, thus five access points need to be scripted). That and it would have to be suitably difficult for a group/individual to maintain and scavenge for, all the while being defeatable by something specific. This is key, as if everything is defeated by arbitrary "damage" then anyone with a hatchet can take down anything given enough time (perhaps the wooden door suggestion should be amended to differentiate between "Flimsy Planks" and "Hardened Wood Door", because hatchets can harm one but not the other). This will create a new role in groups of "Breacher", the guy who has the wire cutters, blowtorch, etc. to defeat any potential fortification. All while potentially under fire. But the main purpose of this is to limit the effect a single individual can have on a variety of things, because if X requires Y to defeat rather than Z, people will be less likely to have Y on happenstance. Whereas now, like with the Toolbox, once you've got a Toolbox you can do a wide variety of things to a wide variety of vehicles and construction components (construct, destroy, repair, etc.)

Edited May 30, 2013 by Katana67

[Ninjamark 15]

@Katana, Totally love everything you said :)

While High HP steel that anything can break is ok, a specific thing is just that much better.

A blow torch, needs fuel. More scavenging

The idea of "weak" and "strong" barricades is good too, it means servers won't fill up with hard to get into houses everywhere, but a clan or group can make a nice set-up given time

And yeah it would have to be as you said, Chernohouse 1 has X windows and Y doors but I can live with that

It could also inspire friendships or raids. Someone took the house or building you wanted (Cause of the ocean veiw ;) )

Do you lie in ambush and raid the house?

Make a friend?

blow it the fuck up because if you can't have it no one can :D

I can definetally see this as one of those ideas that should be implemented and basically "tested" to see whether its amazing and keep it, or didnt work so move on

Oh oh, imagine a clan has taken over a small town, Those bastards killed your friend and stole your beans. You are on a hill thinking man how can I get these rat bastards. Nek minit, roaming zombie hoard. Now things are interesting ;)

on that note, zombies should be able to break all barricades imo, no hiding in houses. Zombies need to always be a threat

Edited May 30, 2013 by Ninjamark

[Mr Mouse 61]

on that note, zombies should be able to break all barricades imo, no hiding in houses. Zombies need to always be a threat

This is true. If the game wants to revolve around zombies, then zombies need to ALWAYS be a threat. Even if it's a threat over time, i.e taking a while to break through your barricade.

If they aren't a constant threat, then it's simply a large scale generic PvP game that happens to feature roaming zombies.

[osallivan 74]

The only way you could take a break from zombies is to hide your ass in the woods :D My opinion.

I am very excited to see how did they redesign the forests (and the wilderness overall). Hope to see some rivers, waterfalls and stuff like that other than just a bunch of trees sticking out of hills... RIVERS, they are SO MISSING in Chernorus. Also, imagine natural caves!!! How sick would that be! :) I've written many posts on how wilderness should be a threat to the survival too! Adding wild animals and swamps in the forest could make it realistic.

Aaaand speaking of caves... I hope they have added/will add something like a chest or a head mounted flashlight, so we won't have to replace it with the secondary weapon...

Edited May 30, 2013 by osallivan

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

I think the "quick-bar" sounds like it will make swapping between a gun and a torch just a wee bit simpler.

Just have to wait and see.

[osallivan 74]

I think the "quick-bar" sounds like it will make swapping between a gun and a torch just a wee bit simpler.

Just have to wait and see.

Dunno maybe... it just seems logical that if you have a cap/head/helmet-mounted light to turn it on/off like a switch with one button click so it's instant :)

Edited May 30, 2013 by osallivan

[Katana67 2907]

This is true. If the game wants to revolve around zombies, then zombies need to ALWAYS be a threat. Even if it's a threat over time, i.e taking a while to break through your barricade.

If they aren't a constant threat, then it's simply a large scale generic PvP game that happens to feature roaming zombies.

Oh sure, I hadn't even thought of that. Good call. Yeah, zombies should totally have an effect on any possible barricading.

I think you being low-key while in that house should be a thing, for instance zombies'd be attracted to any bright lights and rustling about. Then, they'd start whacking at your barricades.

EDIT - And hey, maybe some houses could start with the doors locked anyway. So that the player would have to open it up, perhaps to more lucrative loot.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Katana67

[guisho 258]

I think the "quick-bar" sounds like it will make swapping between a gun and a torch just a wee bit simpler.

Just have to wait and see.

Or maybe the animations will be similar in terms of length, but not like skipping them, it just take away the need of scrolling down to find the item and having a misclick or something. (just my thought)

[St. Jimmy 1631]

Ivan Buchta tweeted a nice knife

DayZ is getting The Slayer's Blade, mighty artifact owned by @mattbloomer. Our artists rock!

Behold, here it is: great for chopping wood, slashing bean cans in half and digging trenches. It also cuts stuff. :) pic.twitter.com/vvDwosFap8

[guisho 258]

"... and digging trenches". I probably saw what he did there?

Edited May 30, 2013 by Guisho

[fluxley 2228]

DIGGING TRENCHES CONFIRMED FOR STANDALONE!!!!

mAYBE

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

We had better get an update tomorrow or there will be trouble!

All these nuggets from everyone everywhere is doing my nut in! Has the NDA finished?

Also, Where's my takeaway? I ordered it 20 mins ago!