Possible Falling Damage Formulas

[WBK 176]

This is Part One of two suggestions I'll make, revolving around falling and jumping/climbing.

Everyone in DayZ has died because they thought they could just run off a deer stand instead of climbing down. We all know the damage values for falling are atrocious, as well as knockout %, bone break % and bleeding %. So I'm going to make a few propositions, and then show some formulas I've worked out.

Firstly, I think there should be a human controlled method of landing properly. For example, everyone bends their legs when they land from a jump. The animation should include a knee bend when landing. The way you land depends on the way you fall. If it is either a jump (i.e. pressing v), or walking off a precipice, you should bend your legs upon landing. If you run off a precipice, or are pushed (I'll get to that later), then you should land without bending your legs. The damage and bone break values for both landing methods will be very different, of course. Just try jumping up and down without bending your legs. Passing out and bleeding chance should be removed from falling.

With regards to the pushing, you should be able to sneak up behind a stationary person who is either crouching or standing and push them if they are near a precipice. (Maybe this will come into effect in the SA with a melee system, not sure). Either way, it'd be a silent attack, and an almost certain death, depending on the height of the fall. And now for the formulas!

I'll make one damage and one bone break % for each landing style, without knee bend (NKB) and with knee bend (WKB). Here's how I think they should operate:

DAMAGE

NKB

d = r(5h^2.6)

WKB

d = k(5(h-4)^2.7)

d = damage

h = height of fall in metres

r = random number between ^h/_¹⁰ and 1

k = random number between ^h/₂₀ and 1

N.B. Values below 1 deal 0 damage.

Essentially, this model says that if you crouch after you jump, you will be dealt 0 damage up to 4 metres, and then damage will begin to take effect. The exponential value is slightly higher in the second model, this is because although you do less/no damage at low heights, the higher you get, the less difference it makes and so this will make it rise quicker.

BONE BREAK %

NKB

b = (^1+rmin/₂) x (h³) / 100

WKB

b = [ (^1+kmin/₂) x (h²) / 100 ] - 0.1

Hope you could follow those!

If it wasn't clear, I'll explain the WKB formula

• Add the k_min to 1 (i.e. for 5 metres, it would be 1 + ⁵/₂₀ = 1.25)
  
• Divide result by 2 (0.625)
  
• Multiply result by h² (5² x 0.625 = 15.625)
  
• Divide result by 100 (0.15625)
  
• Subtract 0.1 from result (0.05625)
  

b = bone break %

r_min = minimum possible value of r in above formula

k_min = minimum possible value of k in above formula

N.B if % is lower than 0.01, % = 0, and it cannot go above 99.9%

This model implies that if you jump without crouching, your legs are buggered. Make sure to walk off precipices or actually jump! Don't be careless. And try not to get pushed :P

VALUES

NKB

These values include minimum to maximum damage and bone break chance. Damage is rounded to nearest whole number, bone break to 2 decimal places. Text in bright red indicates instant death.

1m: 7 - 65 damage, 0% bone break chance

3m: 343 - 1142, 17.55%

4m: 965 - 2414, 44.80 %

5m: 2156 - 4312, 93.75%

7m: 7239 - 10341, 99.90%

8m: 11707 - 14634, 99.90%

For all intents and purposes, any fall without bracing above 8 metres will kill you instantly.

WKB

1-4m: 0 damage, 0% bone break chance

5m: 19-77, 5.63%

7m: 449 - 1498, 23.08%

8m: 1140 - 3257, 34.80%

9m: 2380 - 5949, 48.73%

10m: 4866 - 9733, 65.00%

11m: 8116 - 14757, 93.78%

12m: 12697 - 21162, 99.90%

Any fall above 11 metres is going to render your character useless, essentially.

I think these figures should be representative of a fall onto concrete. A damage limiting multiplyer would be added for different surfaces (e.g. around x¹/₂for grass?)

If you read this far, thanks heaps and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Edited July 2, 2013 by WBK

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

I think everyone agrees the DayZ fall damage is lame.

I only hope the SA has a better damage control system than the Mod. I hope dearly so. Falling from a small height and breaking legs is not very realistic and a game breaker for me (On the few occasions I have done it)

Players get cornered at height when fresh spawned and become fodder. Now Zeds can run inside buildings a bit more height control would be appreciated, I am still waiting for being able to climb buildings (Which again is a realistic option)

We will have to wait and see as I am sure rocket and co's list of movement and features is growing every day!

[WBK 176]

I only hope the SA has a better damage control system than the Mod. I hope dearly so. Falling from a small height and breaking legs is not very realistic and a game breaker for me (On the few occasions I have done it)

Zeds can run inside buildings a bit more height control would be appreciated, I am still waiting for being able to climb buildings (Which again is a realistic option)

We will have to wait and see as I am sure rocket and co's list of movement and features is growing every day!

Yeah, climbing's next on my list of suggestions, as you said they're both immersion breakers. Hopefully this is all in by the early stages of the SA. I wouldn't think by the first release, but hopefully soon after.

Edited July 1, 2013 by WBK

[LancerG2 369]

"I think everyone agrees the DayZ fall damage is lame."

Say that again, mate. Dead right on that one. Look if the Dev's could stop focusing on zombie animations and focus on stuff like this, health and an increase of weaponry and save zed animations for last then it would mean the game could come out quicker.

[geogeorgegeo@hotmail.co.uk 50]

Yeah I agree with the above post, they seem to focus so much on animations because people whine about it too much. I actually don't care if the reloading of a gun isn't realistic or if a zombie doesn't look awesome when animating. In terms of animation, all I care about is the gameplay aspects; if you kill a zombie they shouldn't take 1 second to run forwards and then drop to the ground. I however disagree that you just need to add more weaponry to make a better game, often, less is more. Although the existing weaponry could be tweaked, there is enough of a variety.

[WBK 176]

less is more

This should be the ethos of DayZ. I'm with you that we don't need more weapons - perhaps more low grade, but definitely we don't need more high grade weapons. But I don't think that zombie animations and human animations are pointless, they add immersion. If it doesn't look like I'm there, then I can't feel like I'm there. In the same vein, the fundamentals of the game like listed above are just as important. I don't think anything needs to take a backseat, every aspect is as essential as the other. With a team that seems to truly care about the community, I'm sure the final, full release of SA will be excellent. It's just a matter of how far away that is :P

Edited July 1, 2013 by WBK

[WBK 176]

What do people think of the values themselves? Does it seem like realistic damage for falls at certain heights?