Another "Impressions" Thread - Thoughts/Considerations

[Katana67 2907]

DISCLAIMER: Critique =/= Whining. Likewise, simply because it's an Alpha, does not mean that the game is above critique. Moving along...

 

Skip down if you want an idiot's TL;DR bullet-version.

 

My two biggest gripes have to do with the zombies and the sickness. The latter has apparently been addressed (to an extent) in the upcoming patch, so I'll start with the zombies.

 

Yes, I get that they're very much a WIP and are by no means finished. That said, I rarely encounter them. I'm sure this is a known issue, but I'm seeing maybe 3-5 zombies per town. Whereas I'd expect much more. They look great though, and the animations are much better than in the mod (though they still need work).

 

That and it's beleagueringly annoying to have them draw blood most of the time when they do hit you. I get that this might be by virtue of it being an Alpha, but I'd like to see more "temporary sprains" being inflicted as well as broken bones on occasion. Bleeding is only one outcome of a violent tussle, and I'd like to see them move away from the "blood as health" system that seems carried over from the mod. With that said, they seem to have done so with how prevalent sickness is.

 

Sickness, in my opinion, is far too easy to come by. I've had three characters, all of which have been knocked unconscious by sickness. The first character was because I didn't really know any better. But this last one, I've not used anything other than "Pristine" items and have properly purified my water/food. I still got sick and died. I'm not sure if I didn't disinfect properly, which brings me to my next point.

 

Not everything is covered in harmful bacteria and salmonella. Not everything needs to be disinfected. Sure, if you find something that looks a bit off, that makes sense. But if you put on a shirt, it's highly unlikely that you'll get infected. Do our characters not have immune systems? There is no chance of just fighting off the infection naturally? I've come across some bottles of alcohol, but they didn't seem to do much. I've yet to see a bottle of disinfectant, so I can't comment on that one. But the point here is that you get sick far too easily and for indiscernible reasons (it almost seems ambient and guaranteed).

 

If disease is going to be so pervasive, then medical supplies need to be more pervasive as well. I've yet to find a bottle of painkillers or anything that looks like it could cure the unconsciousness-inducing headaches that have been killing my characters (including antibiotics). I see plenty of medicine cabinets rendered in buildings, and not a lot of medical loot. I see some First-Aid Kits, which aren't really all that helpful.

 

Likewise, I'm not sure if "Condition" has to do with a propensity toward being infectious, but seeing a "Worn" can of beans or a "Worn" canteen is completely insignificant. Simply because it's "Worn" (whatever that means) doesn't mean it's "bad". Likewise, these are things that require specific conditions to be deemed as un-usable. If a canteen has a hole in it, sure, that should be passed up. If a can is open, or leaking, sure... that should be passed up as well. But just because the label's torn off and it looks "Worn" doesn't mean that it'd be bad for you. Again, no idea if condition has any affect on your infection prone-ness.

 

In my opinion, the only way you should get sick, is if you seriously fuck up or are in dire need of food so that you have to eat some questionable items. It should be something that's managed, but not constantly. That said, I like the survival elements implemented now, but just think they need to be scaled down a bit as to not be so annoying.

 

Some minor caveats

- Empty water bottles need to be more common, bottles with water already in them need to be made rarer

- Disinfectant items (i.e. sprays, soaps, detergents, alcohol, etc.) need to be made more common. Most households have these items and it hardly seems like folks would be throwing piles of detergent into their cars as they try to escape the apocalypse.

- Not sure if I'm 100% cool with barracks still being the destinations for high-end loot, I'd much rather it be spread out but with lower guarantees of spawning. I'm also not sure, therefore, if I'm cool with more barracks being included.

- Flashlights still shine through buildings, they need work.

- Some buildings/structures do not appear configured for loot (i.e. apartment blocs, certain military tents, etc.) Could just be me.

- I've found far more M4's than I've found Mosin's/Shotguns, I'd've expected it to be the other way around. That said, I think the weapon spawns are fairly decent.

- I feel that loot can still spawn inside/under floors and such.

 

Praises

- The towns look phenomenal, I was really taken aback at how convincing Pustoshka is now.

- The weapon attachment system is great, very robust variety. I look forward to seeing this system expanded and/or applied to other weapons.

- Gear is exceptional.

- The inventory is leaps and bounds better than in the mod. I've had very few issues with it and it seems more complex and at the same time, less cumbersome.

 

Suggestions

- I'd like to see an attempt to integrate the loot system into the realm of plausibility, rather than just randomized loot percentages. I mean, most houses have ancillary things like empty water bottles, soap, old medicine, silverware, etc. I'd like to see an approach of "What is probably going to be in this house", rather than "diceroll = 50% chance of food spawn". I'm not saying that every house should have a lot of loot, but there are certain things which aren't very well represented in Residential loot. I like the scarcity of loot, but only so far as it's plausible. Weapons should be even rarer in my opinion, whereas certain household items should be more prevalent.

- Dial down the rate at which players become infected. I like that it's a threat, but again, it should only really arise if the player really fucks up and neglects his character. I don't want to have to disinfect every ten minutes.

- Same goes for food/drink. It should be a significant thing, but I feel like I'm eating/drinking every five minutes just to keep my character going. Just an adjustment to frequency is all that's needed. I enjoy the added weight that food/water now have. 

Edited December 17, 2013 by Katana67

[weparo 613]

+1 great intro, great arguments made! :)

 

EDIT : Basically you just saved me from writing up the exact same points in far worse english. Thx mate ;)

Edited December 17, 2013 by Weparo

[xX_fr0st-w0lf_Xx (DayZ) 343]

Well said

[mercules 1290]

Well thought out. 

A few things I would like to point out. 

They have stated numerous times that the zombies are placeholder and no where near where they want them and that they had dialed back on the number for now while they get things to a point where they can have lots of zombies wandering around. Dean didn't want to delay the Alpha any further to wait for that to happen. 

There is a link to a post from Dean stating that loot distribution is not close to finished yet either, that it isn't balanced or spread around correctly and that loot isn't spawning everywhere it should. 

 

[weparo 613]

Well thought out. 

A few things I would like to point out. 

They have stated numerous times that the zombies are placeholder and no where near where they want them and that they had dialed back on the number for now while they get things to a point where they can have lots of zombies wandering around. Dean didn't want to delay the Alpha any further to wait for that to happen. 

There is a link to a post from Dean stating that loot distribution is not close to finished yet either, that it isn't balanced or spread around correctly and that loot isn't spawning everywhere it should.

 

I'm not surprised. Rocket 's got it all figured out man :)

I can't wait to see DayZ in a couple months from now!

[ianramos 47]

You just said everything I wanted to say. You have my beans.  ;)

 

I really hope this gets read by any dev.

 

Also, I'm just a little bit disappointed with the melee system now.

The offensive/defensive idea is really good, but it doesn't seem to work very well. Melee is pretty much bugged, it's almost impossible to kill a zombie without getting hit by it first. Well, I hope they get it fixed or improved in a couple of months...

Edited December 17, 2013 by #Knight

[Katana67 2907]

A few things I would like to point out. 

They have stated numerous times that the zombies are placeholder and no where near where they want them and that they had dialed back on the number for now while they get things to a point where they can have lots of zombies wandering around. Dean didn't want to delay the Alpha any further to wait for that to happen. 

There is a link to a post from Dean stating that loot distribution is not close to finished yet either, that it isn't balanced or spread around correctly and that loot isn't spawning everywhere it should.

 

Sure! I get that. Just my impressions, I've spoken about these things before the release as well. Just now they're more relevant and I've actually got my hands on the Standalone to make more concrete calls on certain issues. I'm not satisfied with these things any more than I'm sure the developers are.

 

 

I'm not surprised. Rocket 's got it all figured out man :)

I can't wait to see DayZ in a couple months from now!

 

Me too, I like the roadmap and the fact that they've got a patch in the pipes that is more reminiscent of (pre-community and post-community developed) mod patches that take months to finish. Rather than just a post-release hotfix.

 

EDIT - And I think that the release has been pretty smooth compared to other games, and DayZ mod. I haven't had any issues getting into a server, not one single crash as of yet, and haven't been killed by any doors. Really think the smoothness of the release has gone unnoticed by some.

Edited December 17, 2013 by Katana67

[weparo 613]

EDIT - And I think that the release has been pretty smooth compared to other games, and DayZ mod. I haven't had any issues getting into a server, not one single crash as of yet, and haven't been killed by any doors. Really think the smoothness of the release has gone unnoticed by some.

 

You might just be one of the wisest guys around...

 

I too have been surprised about the smoothness of the whole launch. Which makes it almost painfull to see the whiny threads. Lots of people that never got involved, that (imho) are not even part of the comunity just making accouts to ask already answered questions \ whine because they can't read. I 'd have the whole forum shut down for a week till they pipe down again :D

Edited December 17, 2013 by Weparo

[Katana67 2907]

You might just be one of the wisest guys around...

 

I too have been surprised about the smoothness of the whole launch. Which makes it almost painfull to see the whiny threads. Lots of people that never got involved, that (imho) are not even part of the comunity just making accouts to ask already answered questions \ whine because they can't read. I 'd have the whole forum shut down for a week till they pipe down again :D

 

Yeah well, I sort of expected that to happen. Though it's nice to know that there are some die-hard nuts around (all the crazies in the "Round-Up" threads like us). But that can all be fixed by adopting the old forum adage of "drinking tears".

 

But yeah, the release has been surprisingly smooth. I fully expected it to be an absolute clusterfuck, every step (downloading, booting up, getting into the server, character saving, not to mention just regular in-game bugs). I even downloaded the 5GB file in 15 minutes... I don't think I've had such an effortless first day with a game in recent memory. I'm actually kind of wierded out, just playing waiting for my game to finally crash is freaking me out. But good to know that it's pretty damn stable and dependable. The insta-join on the server interface is a godsend as well, takes like 5 seconds to join a server.

[weparo 613]

Yeah well, I sort of expected that to happen. Though it's nice to know that there are some die-hard nuts around (all the crazies in the "Round-Up" threads like us). But that can all be fixed by adopting the old forum adage of "drinking tears".

 

But yeah, the release has been surprisingly smooth. I fully expected it to be an absolute clusterfuck, every step (downloading, booting up, getting into the server, character saving, not to mention just regular in-game bugs). I even downloaded the 5GB file in 15 minutes... I don't think I've had such an effortless first day with a game in recent memory. I'm actually kind of wierded out, just playing waiting for my game to finally crash is freaking me out. But good to know that it's pretty damn stable and dependable. The insta-join on the server interface is a godsend as well, takes like 5 seconds to join a server.

 

Yes, you speak what I want to say :)

Instajoin is really nice, but the fact that you can see you char in the menus and move it around... awwww yesss!

But the best thing about alpher is still the individual clothing. And it's well made too! Everything "fits" and looks great imho! I've been doing lot's of screeshots of my survivor :P

 

But time to sleep now, see you guys around :)

[mercules 1290]

Yeah well, I sort of expected that to happen. Though it's nice to know that there are some die-hard nuts around (all the crazies in the "Round-Up" threads like us). But that can all be fixed by adopting the old forum adage of "drinking tears".

 

But yeah, the release has been surprisingly smooth. I fully expected it to be an absolute clusterfuck, every step (downloading, booting up, getting into the server, character saving, not to mention just regular in-game bugs). I even downloaded the 5GB file in 15 minutes... I don't think I've had such an effortless first day with a game in recent memory. I'm actually kind of wierded out, just playing waiting for my game to finally crash is freaking me out. But good to know that it's pretty damn stable and dependable. The insta-join on the server interface is a godsend as well, takes like 5 seconds to join a server.

 

I was kinda the same. I hit the Internet button once we figured out that it was defaulting to LAN and saw the sea of servers and went, "Wow... it's like they planned it." I was able to hop on a server with low ping and not too many players within 10 minutes of the game downloading. I was stunned. 

[Katana67 2907]

"Wow... it's like they planned it."

 

Probably the best way of describing it. And pretty significant, as very little goes to plan with regard to releases!