December Round-up: ༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ GIVE SA

[puppetworx 474]

He's still posting on 4chan btw, get in there if you've got any questions, he seems to be answering a lot: http://boards.4chan.org/vg/res/54246982

[korrobravin 96]

Got some more QandA's

 

 

Q: With the Mosin, will there be loadable stripper clips to quickly reload the gun, and could we possibly craft simple ones that deteriorate very fast with a pair of pliers and a bit of metal?

     Stripper clips (fast) or load rounds in (slow, done manually from inventory screen)., or single round up the spout.

 

Q: Rocket, please add in based M203s.

     We need to do some support for attachment muzzles. once we do expect m203 and masterkey. but don't expect them to be plentiful

 

Q: Do you plan on reworking some of the essential workings of DayZ, by which I mean the way we create a character, log onto different servers and respawn when killed? Will we be more attached to our character and life, rather than only our gear? I like Project Zomboid's approach to it, but obviously it's only SP.

     Yes, i expect some major components of the engine will be entirely reworked during the alpha. if we can extend the player numbers where we want to, that number will be high enough we could limit a players character to a single server.
 

Q: Will there be proper telescopic sights?

    I guess it depends on what you mean by proper. we're trying to balance realism with gameplayer. you can get a sporting scope for the mosin that is probably the best scope so far for zooming.

 

Q: Any plans to swing by the dayz steam group chat again any time soon?

   yes, again after release

 

Q: Did you find a nice way to bind melee attacks with weapon yet? What is the current hotkey for waving btw?

   F1 waves. and you can bind a key for taunt (finger)

 

Q: Did you find a nice way to bind melee attacks with weapon yet? What is the current hotkey for waving btw?

   F1 waves. and you can bind a key for taunt (finger)

 

 

Q: (?)

   We want to improve the zeroing but we have to link it with weather first, which means we have to improve the syncing of weather between server clients... etc... etc...

 

Q: After seeing Cherno, and your excitement showing it to us, are there any other new/reworked areas of the map we haven't seen yet that you're excited to see people experience come release?

   Hmmm. tough one. I love the swamps and the derelict ship.

 

Q: What would you guess is going to be the biggest complaint once Alpha is released? Performance? Server Stability?

   The thing that annoys me most is performance, its very limiting for the scale we want to do. its like traffic, you can optimize the whole thing except for one part... but that one part makes it slow overall.

 

Q: PIP scopes?

   PiP would kill fps. best we can hope for would be a pp effect to blur the outside of the scope a bit. PiP we could try (its supported) but its damn expensive.

but that's the great thing about the whole early access. take a game like ksp, they just try things.

lets face it, a cool looking scope isn't going to stop the loss of immersion when that zombie you are sighting in glitches through a wall.
we have a ways to go, but the cool thing for me is that we're tackling it in architecture, not in bug fixing around the edges.

 

Q: PIP scopes?

   PiP would kill fps. best we can hope for would be a pp effect to blur the outside of the scope a bit. PiP we could try (its supported) but its damn expensive.

but that's the great thing about the whole early access. take a game like ksp, they just try things.

lets face it, a cool looking scope isn't going to stop the loss of immersion when that zombie you are sighting in glitches through a wall.
we have a ways to go, but the cool thing for me is that we're tackling it in architecture, not in bug fixing around the edges.

 

Q: So Rocket what kind of DLC packs are you all planning on adding?

   I don't think DLC works for something like DayZ, it will split the community. we need to avoid that.

 

 

Q: How long do you predict "Alpha" will last? Like, how long it will it take for your team to stop adding new features?

   I think at least six months, possibly a year. depends on success of the first few months, in sales etc... but regardless bohemia are in for the long haul with dayz

 

Q: Will the content and feature set ever be complete? Will it ever be enough?

   It is my belief it will, and at the end of alpha. idk if I will still be project lead then, I might not be the best choice, but I wouldn't want to see dayz get too far from its "heart". best to make another game if you're going to change it radically.

 

Q: Will there be any means of boarding up windows/doors on buildings for temporary strongholds?

   I really want to do TDL style barricading. we have initial plans drawn up using the new physics middleware we have.

 

Q: You plan on going to any conventions next year, Rocket? Gaming or otherwise?

   After the alpha comes out I'll probably end up doing most of the conventions, as they're good for publicity for the game

 

Q: What are some subjects that have caused disagreements or interesting discussions inside the team? You mentioned something about character race and gender once, what did it amount to?

   Mostly just little stuff. controls are the biggest, everyone has their own opinion of how they should work

 

That's all for tonight.

[TIC 1050]

It wont be out this year.

 

Also, Dean seems to forget what an alphaactually is lol.

 

I believe an Alpha should be good to represent itself as a good product for the consumers, there's never anything wrong with waiting for something good than something you'd regret otherwise it'd be called "Buyer's Remorse" :)

[ZlobaRUS54 441]

You forgot:

 

 

 

>>54883417
I think so, but we're only just about to hit alpha. what I hope is there is enough fun amongst the bugs to hold the concept through to actually doing exciting stuff

 

CHOO-CHOO

[SJKSJK 225]

You forgot:

 

 

CHOO-CHOO

No. I think it's all over for this year. Painful.

[PhilB 230]

 

 

Q: So Rocket what kind of DLC packs are you all planning on adding?

   I don't think DLC works for something like DayZ, it will split the community. we need to avoid that.

 

 

 

 

Glad to hear. Just one single hive. For so many reasons.

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

Glad to hear. Just one single hive. For so many reasons.

 

My god. Did some ask that question as a joke or was it serious? Have gamers been officially and successfully tricked into thinking the current brand of DLC (withheld from release to be sold shortly after) is a good thing?

 

EDIT: Or DLC in general really. I think the only time DLC was okay was when it first started coming out and it was a process where they'd release it for a price (long after games were released) and after a month or two they'd make it free for everyone. Now companies just happily fracture the gaming community for their respective games a few weeks after release.

Edited December 10, 2013 by AnarchyBrownies

[SFRGaming 718]

What I haven't been able to grasp is why Dean is trying to fix every damn thing wrong with the game before it's even released to the public. It might be kinda hard to do our job (find bugs) when it's already been done for us. I mean, yes it's more convenient for the average person that way, but I have waited far too long for SA and I honestly love finding small bugs (like most of us did in the mod). I say he should just hit the button and add the game as is. It'll shut the community up and instead of 150 people looking for bugs, he'll have more that 50,000.

[bad_mojo (DayZ) 1204]

What I haven't been able to grasp is why Dean is trying to fix every damn thing wrong with the game before it's even released to the public. It might be kinda hard to do our job (find bugs) when it's already been done for us. I mean, yes it's more convenient for the average person that way, but I have waited far too long for SA and I honestly love finding small bugs (like most of us did in the mod). I say he should just hit the button and add the game as is. It'll shut the community up and instead of 150 people looking for bugs, he'll have more that 50,000.

 

That's exactly what the servers need, 50,000 people logging in and out trying to fix their glitched characters.

[h3l1x 327]

What I haven't been able to grasp is why Dean is trying to fix every damn thing wrong with the game before it's even released to the public. It might be kinda hard to do our job (find bugs) when it's already been done for us. I mean, yes it's more convenient for the average person that way, but I have waited far too long for SA and I honestly love finding small bugs (like most of us did in the mod). I say he should just hit the button and add the game as is. It'll shut the community up and instead of 150 people looking for bugs, he'll have more that 50,000.

 

You say "I honestly love finding small bugs" but there are massive bugs for the time being. For example having two instances of your character spawning at the same time, both controlled by you in real time. Or the server handling multiple people without crazy ass inventory lag. They're just trying to make the server somewhat reliable, not fixing small bugs.

Edited December 10, 2013 by h3l1x

[PhilB 230]

My god. Did some ask that question as a joke or was it serious? Have gamers been officially and successfully tricked into thinking the current brand of DLC (withheld from release to be sold shortly after) is a good thing?

 

I think the question uses the term dlc loosely. They mean some sort of new content. I see instead Dean taking the opportunity to make a firm statement about all fracturing of the community, which includes mods of mods and pay for play stuff (donater perks?).

Point is, so much more fun when we all play the same exact game. Notoriety, public shame, stats exceptionalism, all that stuff.

[Quanaril (DayZ) 114]

idk if I will still be project lead then, I might not be the best choice

 

 

How would this (a possible new name in project lead title) affect the game's further development?

[Mazzar 231]

What I haven't been able to grasp is why Dean is trying to fix every damn thing wrong with the game before it's even released to the public. It might be kinda hard to do our job (find bugs) when it's already been done for us. I mean, yes it's more convenient for the average person that way, but I have waited far too long for SA and I honestly love finding small bugs (like most of us did in the mod). I say he should just hit the button and add the game as is. It'll shut the community up and instead of 150 people looking for bugs, he'll have more that 50,000.

 

Wrong, on so many levels.

 

You wont find and isolate an optimisation bug. Which is what theyre currently focusing on.

You will find bugs, but not the type they're looking for right now.

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

I think the question uses the term dlc loosely. They mean some sort of new content. I see instead Dean taking the opportunity to make a firm statement about all fracturing of the community, which includes mods of mods and pay for play stuff (donater perks?).

Point is, so much more fun when we all play the same exact game. Notoriety, public shame, stats exceptionalism, all that stuff.

 

Agreed.

 

On the first part of that though, if the person asking the question is using the term loosely then we're obviously going to have a ton of DLC. It's an alpha. We're going to be getting weapon DLC, Vehicle DLC, medical DLC... DLC out the ass. That's why I interpreted it in a worrying way where this person seems to be waiting for some super special exclusive content. People like that can eff off... in my opinion.

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

Erm, is cloning the only thing holding back release?

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

Erm, is cloning the only thing holding back release?

 

Not necessarily I don't think. That was just a good example of one of the things that really makes the game unplayable at this point.

 

I think I know where you're going with this though, and you're right people have misinterpreted that EXAMPLE as the new benchmark for achieving a go ahead for release.  

[Owain1122 218]

Erm, is cloning the only thing holding back release?

 

Yeah unless fixing that springs a new bug or a new bug presents itself.

[AnarchyBrownies 1383]

Yeah unless fixing that springs a new bug or a new bug presents itself.

 

I thought in the stream he just said "See this is the type of thing that is holding back release." I don't recall any time he said that the cloning was THE thing holding back release.

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

I thought in the stream he just said "See this is the type of thing that is holding back release." I don't recall any time he said that the cloning was THE thing holding back release.

 

That's correct but I also get the impression that this is perhaps the biggest hurdle, the rest being more negotiable.

[AP_Norris 1018]

The guy asks if he's going to come back to steam chat SOON.

He says yes, again after release.

SOON was key word.

Release is soon.

Alpha confirmed for soon.

[Katana67 2907]

 

Yes, i expect some major components of the engine will be entirely reworked during the alpha. if we can extend the player numbers where we want to, that number will be high enough we could limit a players character to a single server.

 

What the hell? Why is a server-specific character contingent upon server populations? It's a matter of balance and practicality (i.e. being able to server hop and all the negatives that accompany that with regard to anything persistent). Not player count.

 

Limit the character to the individual server and you bolster the effectiveness of any potential loot economy, trading, construction, and storage mechanics. I really do not understand why they're so fond of cross-server characters. It does nothing but cheapen the experience in my opinion and impose silly restraints on any number of potential mechanics which have yet to be implemented.

 

Still think that if they insist upon having cross-server characters, one's position should revert to the coast at each server swap.

 

I get that the new loot system might lend itself to a sweeping treatment of all servers, but that doesn't therefore mean that characters should be able to move across servers. One cannot have items be persistent and server-based. You have to draw the line at the server if you're not going to have a traditional "MMO" style player population. It's actually the inverse of what Rocket is saying. If one has an exponentially larger population one doesn't need server-specific resources because the server itself is large enough that it accommodates a sizable percentage of the whole playerbase, whereas if one has a smaller population one does require server-specific resources to even out the experience for all.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Katana67

[Owain1122 218]

Apparently the dayZ mod has been taken off Steam.

 

Edit* Or doesn't show up on search apparently

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/comments/1sir0f/dayz_mod_is_no_longer_on_steam/

Edited December 10, 2013 by Owain1122

[m.w. vindicator 880]

The clone bug really adds a whole new meaning to "third person"

[bad_mojo (DayZ) 1204]

What the hell? Why is a server-specific character contingent upon server populations? It's a matter of balance and practicality (i.e. being able to server hop and all the negatives that accompany that with regard to anything persistent). Not player count.

 

Limit the character to the individual server and you bolster the effectiveness of any potential loot economy, trading, construction, and storage mechanics. I really do not understand why they're so fond of cross-server characters. It does nothing but cheapen the experience in my opinion and impose silly restraints on any number of potential mechanics which have yet to be implemented.

 

Still think that if they insist upon having cross-server characters, one's position should revert to the coast at each server swap.

 

I get that the new loot system might lend itself to a sweeping treatment of all servers, but that doesn't therefore mean that characters should be able to move across servers. One cannot have items be persistent and server-based. You have to draw the line at the server if you're not going to have a traditional "MMO" style player population. It's actually the inverse of what Rocket is saying. If one has an exponentially larger population one doesn't need server-specific resources because the server itself is large enough that it accommodates a sizable percentage of the whole playerbase, whereas if one has a smaller population one does require server-specific resources to even out the experience for all.

 

The idea of cross-server characters is great in my opinion. It does have its problems in DayZ, but I'm glad Rocket is still trying to make it work. It was one of the things that drew me to DayZ when I first heard about it.

 

As for the whole contingency on population. I thought it was a database issue. Meaning they want to keep everyone's inventory on the main database, so if there are a million players, playing on a million different servers, that's 1000000*1000000, a lot of information to keep track of. So, if servers were 50 players or 150 players, it makes 3x the difference. I was confused by his comments also, and that's the only logical explanation I can think of.

Edited December 10, 2013 by bad_mojo

[Katana67 2907]

The idea of cross-server characters is great in my opinion. It does have its problems in DayZ, but I'm glad Rocket is still trying to make it work. It was one of the things that drew me to DayZ when I first heard about it.

 

You're of course entitled to your opinion, but I really can't see any benefit in it at all. It's a feature of convenience, pure and simple. It makes playing with your friends and trading "easier" and that's all. But it doesn't enhance these systems, it doesn't make them better. It just facilitates them, and making things "easier" or "convenient" has never been in the lexicon of DayZ in my opinion. Of course, there's a limit and the system needs to function smoothly. But that should never come at the expense of the game. The detriments of server-hopping and the potential offsetting of a (now globalized) loot list are far more concerning to me than the convenience of being able to switch servers at will.

 

In short, having server-fixed characters would discourage servers from falling out of favor (which is the only real reason I could see cross-server characters being permissible) because people would become attached to them. This is of course provided for by the ARMA 2 highly-segmented server design, which in my opinion doesn't lend itself to DayZ at all.

 

You certainly could make the argument that it's a simpler system or that it's easy to implement. But I have a hard time finding merit in the system unto itself.

 

There are a few compromises I think that could be made if cross-server characters are going to be the norm forever. One is to reset the position of your character upon a server switch, this would prevent easily-traded goods and discourage offloading loot from one server to another. You'd not only have to contend with the perils of the coast, but you'd actually have to walk to the place in which you're storing the loot. So it would become extremely tedious looting, resetting back to the coast, walking up to your tent/friend, and then switching back again. Second, it could be possible to have your character (i.e. your kills, headshots, blood, etc.) switch without having your items be cross-server entities. Third would be to implement some type of cooldown timer (on the order of hours) when you'd be prevented from switching servers (I'm not particularly fond of this one).

 

The point here is that it is an action which requires a hefty consequence if it's going to be included. It should not be easy or practical in most situations and should only exist to provide a menial level of flexibility should your friends be on a different server or should the server you're playing on fall out of favor. Other than that, steps should be taken so that it is not used to transfer loot or to allow the player to reorient him/herself in order to gain an advantage.

 

I've said this countless times now, but the developers really need to make up their mind regarding player persistence. In my mind, you cannot have a wholesome storage, construction, or loot system without locking the characters to the server. Any discussion of cross-server characters has to be accompanied by a discussion of how the segmented ARMA 2 server paradigm is to be re-worked, in my opinion.

 

EDIT - I kind of understand Rocket's logic, in that if you make the server populations large enough they become communities unto themselves with sustainable economies. So therefore, cross-server characters are redundant (if you see cross-server trading as legitimate or necessary). But my disagreement with that is his qualifier of server population, whereas I say it doesn't matter and that the characters should be locked to the server regardless.

Edited December 10, 2013 by Katana67