Stand Alone Vanilla Settings - Authentic Survival

[Xeiom 3]

Hey There Forum Goers.

TL;DR at the bottom

I have a few idea's that I feel will really help keep Day Z an authentic survival game for a lot of players. I'm also trying to consider that people want to play with friends.

Here are some suggestions that I feel should be default in the "vanilla" stand alone version of Day Z. I don't think they should be forced on privately hosted servers but should be options.

Some of these things have been confirmed already but I feel they are worth mentioning.

First I'd like to address the server playerlist, currently in the mod this is far too convenient. I would like to see this list hidden from players who are in game, currently you can just check it every few minutes and know you are completely safe if you are the only player.
I'm not suggesting you remove this list from when people are trying to join servers but basically stop players from knowing the player count has increased when already connected. This way even joining an empty server you'll never know for certain that a player won't just jump you in five minutes time.
There should probably be a friends list which allows you to know when a friend has joined your server (90% of people will know from 3rd party programs anyway so this should just help those people in the 10%)

Death Reporting should be disabled. If you shoot someone at a long distance and you can't tell if you hit then you go find out the old fashion way. People that fall unconscious might be the ones with the last laugh if they get up just in time to stop you executing them! Private hosts should have the option to delay death reports by a specific time if possible so they can still have server wide fear when someone is on a rampage but also have the dilemma of finding the bodies even if only for a short time.

Name Indicators should not be displayed. You have a target in your sights dressed the same as your friend? Better make the same decision you'd have to make in the real situation now! In Addition Range indicators should be disabled. Snipers, time to put your knowledge of the Mildot system to use just like you would in the real world.

No server wide global chat. Again remember private hosts should have the option to enable. Nothing as scary as hearing someone's voice knowing they must be approximately < 100 meters away, ect.

Night time needs a "pure dark" period where the only method of seeing is NVG's, torch light or small luminant sources. The best time by a landslide that I had in the mod was working through a town at night with two friends being scared to death that a player was going to see our flashlights and take us out. I'll admit this isn't what everyones looking for but those people will switch servers for a better time zone, not having this as a feature would be a considerable loss. I assume there will be a small downtime for servers where things would respawn, If the server always booted into darkness then people would have to search for stuff at the hardest time to collect stuff(in reference to people who join servers with 0 pop to get all the good stuff).

Difficulty exclusive saves, I'd like to see different difficulties so that we can really entice all sorts of players in but I would love for these plays to be separated. I don't really like the idea of people finding some "easy mode" server, collecting all the gear and then slamming over to "veteran" servers with the same save to gun down the hard working veterans. I'm not sure how difficulty will work but I feel this should be mentioned if there is plans for different difficulties on the public hive.

Kill on Sight gameplay can be cool but sometimes It's just not Day Z, as many know in the Mod you can click a button to lower your weapon but not many people know about this and not everyone can notice the difference between putting your weapon down a bit and having it pointed up. I'd really love to see one or two more animations that are far more obvious and have longer times to re-equip the weapon (as far as i'm aware there isn't a button to hands behind head). I would also like to see shortcuts to these animations presented on a loading screen so that much more people can be aware from their very early experiences with the game that they can "surrender" animation. The surrender animation could also not have the person drop their weapon which can be annoying to try to find, especially in a delicate situation so a drop your weapon button wouldn't really fill the gap. Day Z is one of the few games you can actually need to surrender yourself and the lack of animations doesn't lend itself to this amazing player interaction.

Currently there is an issue in the mod where a dead player can log out to remove their corpse from the game, The people whom have died should have their bodies become part of the world environment so that they can be looted. Pulling the trigger can be a hard decision unsure if zombies are going to maul you to death. The last thing you want is for that to be followed by a corpse not being there when you get a kill, this also goes hand in hand with the death reporting. If you get a kill then the body is how you know. Bandits shouldn't be allowed to just log themselves when their kill goes wrong.

Those are some core things that I feel really need to be present in the stand alone addition. I'd be happy to discuss issues with these idea's that people have and really hope that they all get considered by the stand alone team, even if they don't make it into the game in the form I've described.

I'll keep updating the list as people raise valid points. I'll focus the status to be what I hope is default toward "normal" difficulty standard server settings.

TL;DR:

• Everything I suggested should be default for vanilla but optional for private hosts.

• No Global chat  (DONE)

• Night time should have a pitch black period. (ie Fix clouds, gamma, ect)

• Player List should not be visible when you have entered a server.

• No Names should appear when you hover over players (DONE)

• No Range indicators should appear in the UI. (DONE)

• Deaths should not be reported by the game to anyone especially the killer. (DONE)

• No Crosshair (Single dot is fair compromise)

• Different difficulties should have different saves

• Hands in the air/on head animation (DONE)

• Corpse's should remain after logging out until server restart (DONE)

Edited December 24, 2013 by Xeiom

[fluxley 2228]

Totally agree on all points, welcome to the forum :beans:

I'd like to add No crosshair.

Edit: Ha you've added new things, now i've agreed to things i've never read :D

• Different difficulties should have different saves
  

I dont really see this as a big issue as the only time the difficulty settings really make an impact is when engaged in pvp, Not totally against the idea, just dont think its needed.

• Hands in the air/on head animation with shortcut key displayed on loading screen
  

We've seen from the E3 video's that there will be a selection of stances (and rocket even mentioned facial expressions) available through the function keys, surrender is one of those.

• Corpse's should remain after logging out(maybe become a zombie if mauled to death by one?)
  

This is a big issue in the mod, and essentially falls under combat logging, again this was addressed in one of the E3 video's, apparently they are considering a system where if you log out whilst in combat your body will remain behind for a period of time and can be looted. this will no doubt be the case whether alive or dead.

As far as becoming a zombie is concerned, you have to remember that what we have in dayz are not the typical living dead zombies, they are living humans driven insane by an infection.

So dying means just that, death. there's no coming back as a zombie.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Fluxley

[King Tubbs 224]

most of them are options and this (mostly) are the way i paly so i would have no problem seeing the a the norm

but I do like death mesages

[joe_mcentire 2074]

but I do like death mesages

check your kill i say! for the good of the game!

[enforcer1975 1111]

90% is just server side settings ( on novice or whatever is the lowest difficulty setting ), either the admins didn't know how to set it to veteran or they just wanted to appeal to the lazy gamer who wants to be spoon fed...

most of them are options and this (mostly) are the way i paly so i would have no problem seeing the a the norm

but I do like death mesages

Not really needed as well as statistics because killing each other is not the primary goal anyway. I'd also love if the player list was removed so you never know if somebody is on the server with you so you would have to listen to gunshots or running zombies instead of relying on the list "aha, players are online, have to be careful"...

Edited June 15, 2013 by Enforcer

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

I agree with most of what you're saying, but pitch-blackness at night time should only occur when there's no moon out.

Though increasing the challenge is vital, having the setting feel natural is more important IMO.

Also the playerlist thing works both ways. You could be running around on an empty server for hours without noticing.

It would be kind of pointless to play by yourself, so maybe instead of specific player numbers we should have a simple indication of rough-guess low/medium/high population.

That way you couldn't know the playercount specifically, but you could avoid totally barren servers, or find space for a few players at a time etc.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Chabowski

[Death_Dealer 3155]

Global chat will be replaced by radios.

[Xeiom 3]

I agree with most of what you're saying, but pitch-blackness at night time should only occur when there's no moon out.

Though increasing the challenge is vital, having the setting feel natural is more important IMO.

Also the playerlist thing works both ways. You could be running around on an empty server for hours without noticing.

It would be kind of pointless to play by yourself, so maybe instead of specific player numbers we should have a simple indication of rough-guess low/medium/high population.

That way you couldn't know the playercount specifically, but you could avoid totally barren servers, or find space for a few players at a time etc.

I agree that you don't want to enter barren servers, this Is why I suggest that the server player list doesn't appear when IN the game. The server browser to choose the server you are on should still show players as to ensure you can join a server with players. If a player feels he's not getting enough action on his current server then he can leave to join a more populated server. I feel knowing there is exactly no players on the server however is too much of a boost for all those late night dwellers who get all the good stuff with nothing to fear. I suppose a population gauge isn't as harmful to the experience but I would still prefer to see that on private hosts as an option.

I also agree that the "pitch black" period should fit naturally into the game setting and that the moon should still dutifully accept it's job of illumination. I just don't want to see the "pitch black" periods of the night being axed completely from the game as they are also an authentic stage of the night.

[Chaingunfighter 917]

Nearly all of these have been discussed or are confirmed, but welcome.

[methr1k2dop3 323]

Also the playerlist thing works both ways. You could be running around on an empty server for hours without noticing.

It would be kind of pointless to play by yourself, so maybe instead of specific player numbers we should have a simple indication of rough-guess low/medium/high population.

That way you couldn't know the playercount specifically, but you could avoid totally barren servers, or find space for a few players at a time etc.

I can drink to this.

I think knowing exactly how many people are on takes away from the mystery of entering a city or making a move.

[dulix11 731]

No Global chat

Maybe, on some servers, I get into alot of really funny coversations on global chat.

time should have a pitch black period.

No, there is a moon, the sun relfects it, creating light. At night it is unplayable. Fix the flashlights seizure inducing shaking and I'll gain a bit more respect for this suggestion.

Player List should not be visible when you have entered a server.

So how am I to know if me and my friend have joined the correct server?

No Names should appear when you hover over players

Agreed.

No Range indicators should appear in the UI.

Agreed.

Deaths should not be reported by the game to anyone especially the killer]

Agreed.

No Crosshair (Something I missed but did actually intend to mention - Thanks Fluxley)

Agreed; this should definately encourage people to use 1st person more, and use iron sights.

Different difficulties should have different saves

They are going to try to stop server-hopping in the SA, but otherwise agreed.

Hands in the air/on head animation with shortcut key displayed on loading screen

The E3 footage has a surrender animation, but I like the hands behind head idea: point a gun at someones head and move them along with their hands behind their head...

Corpse's should remain after logging out(maybe become a zombie if mauled to death by one?

No zombiefication. Otherwise, yes.

Edited June 15, 2013 by dulix11

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

I agree that you don't want to enter barren servers, this Is why I suggest that the server player list doesn't appear when IN the game. The server browser to choose the server you are on should still show players as to ensure you can join a server with players. If a player feels he's not getting enough action on his current server then he can leave to join a more populated server. I feel knowing there is exactly no players on the server however is too much of a boost for all those late night dwellers who get all the good stuff with nothing to fear. I suppose a population gauge isn't as harmful to the experience but I would still prefer to see that on private hosts as an option.

Personally, I don't care how other players go about gearing up. Whether they were playing "normally" or specifically seeking empty servers has no impact on my interaction with them.

The only difference is, they've missed out on a vital aspect of the experience; contact (hostile or otherwise) with players.

I would find lonesome scavenging exceedingly boring. Which is my main concern.

The "population-indication" suggestion should apply outside the game.

Knowing specifics regarding player numbers and identities detracts from the experience IMO.

Joining a game with friends is as simple as finding an IP or a specific server name. Player-lists aren't required.

Admins might need to see who's on, but nobody else does.

[Xeiom 3]

Maybe, on some servers, I get into a lot of really funny conversations on global chat.

My first point does suggest that private hosts would be able to add this option.

No, there is a moon

It is true there is a moon, there are also clouds in the sky and it is possible for these clouds to obscure the light from the moon. Not to mention that the moon goes through phases.

The shakiness of the flashlight I consider a separate point to this despite it's direct relation. On this point I will say that some tweaking is needed but it does still need to shake. You are a mortal, you don't have a hand of iron.

So how am I to know if me and my friend have joined the correct server?

In my non too long didn't read section of the post I suggest that there is a friends list that would allow you to check for friends only. This list would require both parties to accept so that someone couldn't just add you if they knew you were liable to kill them.

No zombiefication

Would you care to elaborate as to why you are opposed to this idea? I personally can see that it may be upsetting to see that all your equipment now has a defensive capability when you go to reclaim it but then doesn't this assist the fear of Zeds? I would not suggest that player kills would activate this as it doesn't make sense.

[Xeiom 3]

Personally, I don't care how other players go about gearing up. Whether they were playing "normally" or specifically seeking empty servers has no impact on my interaction with them.

The only difference is, they've missed out on a vital aspect of the experience; contact (hostile or otherwise) with players.

I would find lonesome scavenging exceedingly boring. Which is my main concern.

This is also an issue that would be addressed. Your interaction with them is not so much of a problem but their experience when scavenging should feel authentic. It makes sense to scavenge when you feel no-one else will, that's what you would do. You would also not know for certain that you are scavenging alone and I feel that this element of not knowing is important. No-one could even enter the server but the knowledge that they "might" is enough to give you an experience, a jump, a moment of fear.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Xeiom

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

You want scavenging to feel authentic, but nobody should dictate how other folks play.

If you bump into another player, it doesn't make a difference to you how he got all his gear. He chose to play his way.

I enjoy the uncertainty of walking into an area not knowing if you're being watched, or about to stumble upon a raiding party. I feel it greatly benefits the mood. That's why I'd like to see player-lists removed/replaced.

Currently, even before you join a server you can make an educated guess as to the amount of action you're likely to see and prepare/act accordingly. This is the wrong kind of meta-game.

EDIT:

I don't want to remove ALL information about server-population, just restrict it to nonspecifics.

Edited June 15, 2013 by Chabowski

[Xeiom 3]

Edit: Ha you've added new things, now i've agreed to things i've never read :D

Guess I should start work as a politician? :D

We've seen from the E3 video's that there will be a selection of stances (and rocket even mentioned facial expressions) available through the function keys, surrender is one of those.

I've only seen a limited amount of the E3 footage so I'll have to check them out. I would still like to have this as a firm point if just to emphasis that new players would probably be better off learning this sooner than later. The pattern of a player who doesn't know the surrender key is: gets told to surrender, doesn't surrender, gets gunned to the floor. That experience will happen regardless but it's much nicer if you actually know how to put your arms up when demanded so I recommend that this key in particular is displayed during the loading screen.

As far as becoming a zombie is concerned, you have to remember that what we have in dayz are not the typical living dead zombies, they are living humans driven insane by an infection.

So dying means just that, death. there's no coming back as a zombie.

I have to be honest I've always just assumed they were living dead. I wouldn't want this to happen if they are just infected humans as It would break the lore in the game.

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

gets told to surrender, doesn't surrender, gets gunned to the floor.

No sensible person is going to make that mistake twice.

If they don't look up the keybindings after the first time it gets them killed, they've earned a bullet to the dome. ;)

[Xeiom 3]

No sensible person is going to make that mistake twice.

If they don't look up the keybindings after the first time it gets them killed, they've earned a bullet to the dome. ;)

I suppose this is true, I'm thinking more toward players who might not understand such an animation system exists. I'm sure early adopters won't have the problem at all and I certainly wouldn't.

My thinking is more toward the person who hears about the game from some gaming blog, checks it out and decides the way to surrender is to point his gun in the air or something like that. He gets gunned down and just assumes that they didn't care he surrendered. Next time it happens tries the same thing till he stumbles on the animation chance or something.

I suppose this point is actually more of a "make some tips on loading screens for the newbies".

Edited June 16, 2013 by Xeiom

[TIC 1050]

I also don't want the zombies being able to swim or climbing ladders.. ;)

[Entaro (DayZ) 33]

I also don't want the zombies being able to swim or climbing ladders.. ;)

Aye, the zombies should be dumb, not even being able to open doors - maybe if they make doors breakable objects in the SA, if that is possible.

Agreed on no death messages, makes the mood much tenser, having to confirm your kill.

I also think the limited-server data suggestion is on track. If you join a server and you see that 10 people on it have clan tags, that gives you some pretty telling information that you learned from the metagame. It would be cool if they could limit information to how many slots are filled, or even vaguer, and to those on your friends list.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Entaro