[SA] Starvation

[Wayze 549]

Obviously loot will be a big gameplay element in the standalone. Ammo, weapons and other gear will be very rare. But I really worry about the food. It doesn't seem that Dean does care about it, but in my opinion it is a core element of the game.

 

I mean, you just pack 5 cans of beans and go into the forest. There you can survive forever, without any player interaction. You know, that is probably why the mod is so boring after some time. You just have no point, because survival is no actuall gameplay element.

 

In my opinion food should be very, very rare and like 90% of unexpirienced players should die due to starvation. Maybe like 10% of the expirienced players should also die on starvation. Starvation (or dying due to thirst or desease) should be something common. In DayZ Mod I never ever died because of thirst or hunger. Seriously, not a single time. And I think if people actually die because of that, it would turn DayZ into a real survival game. Think about it, why do people die mostly in such scenarios? Because of starvation (or thirst), Dean Hall was even inspiried by a movie which had this element as a foundation for the concept. Starving due to hunger. (the road)

 

This would be the motivation for everything. You wouldn't shoot somebody because he has good gear, you would shoot him because he may have food or even to eat him. You would not carry a weapon because you want to kill somebody else, you would carry a weapon to provide for food and defend against other people who want food. You would team up with people not because you feel alone, but because you want to hunt for food. Groups would build up because people would have a hard time to loot a city by their own. It is not easy to survive among zombies and people who want to kill you. Many groups (bandits etc.) would fight against each others just for food. Also, if the food in a group gets low that could bring a whole new dynamic. Betraying a friend just for a can of beans. This would bring a lot deeper psychologic part into the game. Who do you trust and who not?

 

 

Many of you will say "But this will increase the kos!", well it probably would. But an apocalypse is no kindergarden, if we would have the starvation aspect people would behave way more authentic. How would they even go and kill players for fun if they have not even enough time to survive without searching for food. We all know kos is a problem, but it is not a problem because it exists, it is a problem because the motivation behind the KOS in the mod is just wrong. People kill for fun. That is just unauthentic. But killing someone for food is way better. Also, because food have be destroyed if shooting at somebody, people would probably trade way more. I mean, if the other guy has enough food but no ammo, I'll give him the ammo and he gives me food. Maybe we even group up. Of I shoot him after he gives me the food, well that is something I can decide.

 

 

Now to not upset the casual gamers, I think the starvation system should be atleast testet out. It is easy to do it, just make food very, very rare and that's it. Maybe make some servers with that options or just set it like that while the alpha runs. I mean, it is a alpha, it is to test things. So maybe a weeks or so we all could play on hardcore mode and then give the feedback.

If it totally fails well then just remove it. But maybe even the casual gamers will enjoy it, we don't know yet because we don't know the how it will change the game.

[ghost2187 18]

Really ?? I think ur going a bit too far. But that's just my opinion

[Bludy 324]

ok, but then i'd like to die in a week at least..maybe two resting regularly..not in a couple of hours..and i died of starvation once, low on blood in the middle of nowhere with scarce ammo, passing out and don't seeing shit, let's figure shoot a rabbit..

[creature 1189]

Dean has mentioned food in one of the older dev blogs. I'd wait until the alpha's released to pass judgement. We don't know exactly what they've done or have planned. For all we know we may have to actually cook our beans in SA or risk illness. He's also stated that the amount of loot in the vid's we see is only like that for testing

 

The problem I see with making starvation a real threat is that it will force people into panic mode. Taking out a geared up player would be a good chance for food or the tools necessary to fend for yourself. If you live by "trust no one" now, try dayz with super rare food and animals and see what happens. ;)

 

I do agree that food needs to be harder to obtain than it is in the mod though. Pretty sure I've never starved to death.

[ghost2187 18]

F@#% that in that case just make.it where u need to find a can opener or something to get the can open y would u need to cook the beans i mean they want more realistic right ur on a hike u brought a can of beans how are you going to get it open? Plz grammers nazis leave me alone lol

Edited September 11, 2013 by ghost2187

[Wayze 549]

The problem I see with making starvation a real threat is that it will force people into panic mode. Taking out a geared up player would be a good chance for food or the tools necessary to fend for yourself. If you live by "trust no one" now, try dayz with super rare food and animals and see what happens. ;)

What happens is an authentic survival simulation. Without this aspect the game is not worthy to call itself survival game because it simply isn't.

[rossums 2190]

I would like there to be a bigger focus on food/drink and less food/drink easily available, currently it's not always worth killing/gutting an animal or going to collect water from a pond unless you REALLY need it, generally coke/pepsi is easier and animal meat is only really sought after for the blood content.

[fluxley 2228]

Totally agree Wayze, Rocket has said a few times that he's aiming for something like in the book/film The Road when it comes to item scarcity, so hopefully that results in food and drink being very hard to come by.

[Jex 1104]

There should never be a mechanic in a game that kills you simply because the game decides it's time for you to die. Do you actually realise how annoying it's going to be if food is as rare as antibiotics? It will also make the game nothing more than look for food simulator 2013. Make food rarer that's fine, but I think you want it where you're constantly looking for it and that isn't a game.

[elektrobanks (DayZ) 14]

I like it! Food has never been an issue for me when playing. I think there should be more animals to hunt though if food is going to be scarce.

 

It would be crazy if food had an expiry date too, maybe some cans of food would be so old that you could risk eating it with more chance of getting ill.

[Wayze 549]

There should never be a mechanic in a game that kills you simply because the game decides it's time for you to die. Do you actually realise how annoying it's going to be if food is as rare as antibiotics? It will also make the game nothing more than look for food simulator 2013. Make food rarer that's fine, but I think you want it where you're constantly looking for it and that isn't a game.

There already is that mechanic. And I don't know why there never should be a mechanic like that because many games do that, even non-hardcore games. That isn't the game? We never played the game, you never played the game. You played some deathmatch zombie sh*t mod and call if survival, but like I said it was never survival and probably will never be. Atleast give the chance to test this kind of thing out, maybe even you would enjoy it who knows?

[mercules 1290]

One of the things he mentioned was that your diet was going to become important. Eat nothing but beans and you might end up sick from lack of protein. Eat nothing but beef steak and over time you will develop issues from an all protein diet. Drink tons of soda and no water and maybe you suffer from something like diabetes. So grabbing 4 cans of something won't be good enough. If you watch the gameplay there is flour and other things which in combo with the crafting system means we will probably have recipes for making different foods. So instead of looking for another can of beans you might be looking for something citric so you can avoid scurvy. 

[Jex 1104]

There already is that mechanic. And I don't know why there never should be a mechanic like that because many games do that, even non-hardcore games. That isn't the game? We never played the game, you never played the game. You played some deathmatch zombie sh*t mod and call if survival, but like I said it was never survival and probably will never be. Atleast give the chance to test this kind of thing out, maybe even you would enjoy it who knows?

 

WTF are you stupid or something??

 

I played some deathmatch zombie shit mod? Oh really did I? And which one would that be pray tell? More like, I need to support my dumbass argument and make up shit. You a fucking liar sir and should be ashamed of yourself!

 

Let me make the point that you missed a little clearer - games that have a mechanic in them that just kill you where you have no chance to avoid death are shitty ass games - most people know and accept that.

[Wayze 549]

One of the things he mentioned was that your diet was going to become important. Eat nothing but beans and you might end up sick from lack of protein. Eat nothing but beef steak and over time you will develop issues from an all protein diet. Drink tons of soda and no water and maybe you suffer from something like diabetes. So grabbing 4 cans of something won't be good enough. If you watch the gameplay there is flour and other things which in combo with the crafting system means we will probably have recipes for making different foods. So instead of looking for another can of beans you might be looking for something citric so you can avoid scurvy. 

Why so complex and unauthentic? It would be much simpler to just reduce the food. Also food should be the main motivation for killing a player or teaming up. If it won't be like that people will just learn after 2 weeks how to survive perfectly without starving or dying by disease ever. But if survival is not just about knowlagde, but also about luck, it would bring a whole new dynamic to a game and make it way more athentic. Additionally the end game would take waaay longer to reach, maybe even never.

Luck is something that is extremly important in every survival situation and I think it should also be very important in DayZ.

 

 

WTF are you stupid or something??

 

I played some deathmatch zombie shit mod? Oh really did I? And which one would that be pray tell? More like, I need to support my dumbass argument and make up shit. You a fucking liar sir and should be ashamed of yourself!

 

Let me make the point that you missed a little clearer - games that have a mechanic in them that just kill you where you have no chance to avoid death are shitty ass games - most people know and accept that.

What is wrong with you? Some aggressions :/

 

Anyway, you played DayZ mod which I meant with "deathmatch zombie sh*t mod". You don't have to make a point because I think you are just totally intolerant, you cannot accept another opinion and even call me names, very childish. You always have a chance to avoid death, what would lesser food change in that?

Edited September 12, 2013 by Wayze

[Castle (DayZ) 23]

I have a suggestion:  Go try Namalsk.  Namalsk is a mod where food only spawns in one city in the map.

[mercules 1290]

Why so complex and unauthentic? 

 

 

How is finding ingredients and crafting a meal unauthentic? How is drinking nothing but soda being bad for you unauthentic? Things like Soup will give you calories and fluid back, lots of calories and some fluid. Things like soda will give you lots of fluid and some calories. This is more authentic.

[SmashT 10907]

WTF are you stupid or something??

 

I played some deathmatch zombie shit mod? Oh really did I? And which one would that be pray tell? More like, I need to support my dumbass argument and make up shit. You a fucking liar sir and should be ashamed of yourself!

 

Let me make the point that you missed a little clearer - games that have a mechanic in them that just kill you where you have no chance to avoid death are shitty ass games - most people know and accept that.

 

There is no need to resort to personal attacks, play the ball, not the man.

[jamieledgeway@hotmail.co.uk 216]

Totally agree with OP. Thought this for a very long time.

[Wayze 549]

How is finding ingredients and crafting a meal unauthentic? How is drinking nothing but soda being bad for you unauthentic? Things like Soup will give you calories and fluid back, lots of calories and some fluid. Things like soda will give you lots of fluid and some calories. This is more authentic.

People can survive months just by eating bananas and drink water. If you are low on food you eat whatever you find, you have no time to count calories, every single bit helps. What you describe are more like first world problems, which probably won't occur in a survival scenario.

 Finding your ingrediants and make your meal is good, but ridicilous in a survival scenario, because like I said food is no common thing and is very, very rare.

 

 

 

I have a suggestion:  Go try Namalsk.  Namalsk is a mod where food only spawns in one city in the map.

I don't care about the mod anymore, I just want the alpha to be good.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Wayze

[mercules 1290]

People can survive months just by eating bananas and drink water. If you are low on food you eat whatever you find, you have no time to count calories, every single bit helps. What you describe are more like first world problems, which probably won't occur in a survival scenario.

 Finding your ingrediants and make your meal is good, but ridicilous in a survival scenario, because like I said food is no common thing and is very, very rare.

 

 

You CAN survive for months by eating bananas and drinking water, but you are going to have some issues that will come with it. I'm not describing first world issues I am describing THIRD WORLD issues. You probably don't realize how much food is stocked up around people and how much of it is actually "non-perishable". We are not talking about 20 years from the outbreak but more like a month or two after it. There should be cans and boxes of food especially if the infection spread fast so that people didn't have a ton of time to eat what was stocked. 

[Soupee 57]

F@#% that in that case just make.it where u need to find a can opener or something to get the can open y would u need to cook the beans i mean they want more realistic right ur on a hike u brought a can of beans how are you going to get it open? Plz grammers nazis leave me alone lol

 

Bang it on a rock.  Or go to a road and rub the rim until you break through the "crimp".  Pretty easy really.

[fluxley 2228]

Always makes me laugh the amount of people who suggest that a survivor would sit staring at a can starving to death because they didn't have a can opener.

[Castle (DayZ) 23]

How is drinking nothing but soda being bad for you unauthentic?

 

Drinking only soda really isn't that bad.  Most days of the last ~9 years I've had only soda and it hasn't caused problems outside of headaches when I don't drink it yet.

[p4triot 207]

There already is that mechanic. And I don't know why there never should be a mechanic like that because many games do that, even non-hardcore games. That isn't the game? We never played the game, you never played the game. You played some deathmatch zombie sh*t mod and call if survival, but like I said it was never survival and probably will never be. Atleast give the chance to test this kind of thing out, maybe even you would enjoy it who knows?

 

Day Z isn't based on Robinson Crusoe's book, ya' know? I think it's more like a ZOMBIE survival. We're not trapped in a desert island surrounded only by sea and having to drink our own urine because sea water would dehydrate us even more, ya' know? I mean, maybe it was some hallucination, but I seemed to notice a few towns all around chernarus, with, ya' know, houses and sh1t, where there's usually a kitchen, a refrigerator, a pantry. I even noticed some supermarkets, with some stuff left behind. Even saw a few civilization technology like fountains, farms, roads, ya' know?

 

I mean, maybe it is only me, but I have this crazy idea that in a zombie apocalypse, I wouldn't need to make my own wooden house on a tree with bamboos and monkey shit and reinvent the wheel and sh1t like that, ya' know?

[Wayze 549]

You CAN survive for months by eating bananas and drinking water, but you are going to have some issues that will come with it. I'm not describing first world issues I am describing THIRD WORLD issues. You probably don't realize how much food is stocked up around people and how much of it is actually "non-perishable". We are not talking about 20 years from the outbreak but more like a month or two after it. There should be cans and boxes of food especially if the infection spread fast so that people didn't have a ton of time to eat what was stocked. 

We are actually talking about years after the outbreak. Like Dean said more than once his game is very much inspired by The Road, which has exactly the same problems which I described. What you described are not the real third world problems, because they are pretty happy if they can survive and if they have atleast something to eat every second day. But that was not what we were talking about, it is not authentic. Just watch the movie The Road and you will probably see what I mean.

 

 

Day Z isn't based on Robinson Crusoe's book, ya' know? I think it's more like a ZOMBIE survival.

DayZ was actually not supposed to be a zombie game, Dean just wanted to create a game where people act like in a surviva scenario. He is often redditing (is that a word?) that he actually want the game to be kind of like The Road.

Jesus, I can not explain to you the problem if you never watched the movie. It is freakin' awesome and DayZ should be exactly like that.