Server times being synchronized.

[HellSnake 26]

We all know that, when night comes, servers get completely empty. I'm forced to play either at daytime or in an empty server. My suggestion is to make some adjustments to how the day and night cycle works to make it more interesting, so we can play both at day and night (this is my opinion, so everyone is free to disagree).

1- Get rid of the gamma slider. Whoever wants to adjust the gamma can do so in their monitor's settings. That way would be a post-render setting and wouldn't make visible something that's invisible, which is what happens with the current system.

 

2- Flashlights need to be fixed (Yes, it's alpha, I know). This is important, because while flashlights go through walls, looting inside a building at night is nearly impossible. With no ambient light from the flashlight "bouncing" on surfaces, it's really hard to see. And you can see people looting buildings from miles away.

 

3- Synchronize server times, so all servers are at the same time of day (No more 24/7 daytime servers, and people can't server hop to a daytime server when it gets dark). Whoever HATES night, can play in a private hive.

 

4- Maybe locking the time zones would be a bit harsh for those that could only play at night (I wouldn't like it), so, to compensate, lower the duration of the day/night cycle to something reasonable. Anything from 5 to 10 hours would be unnoticeable unless looking at a clock, while allowing gaming sessions to last enough to play at different times of day.

EDIT:

Playing 2 and a half hours in a 5 hour cycle (just an example) would get you from noon to midnight, or viceversa. In just one session. That way we can enjoy all aspects of DayZ, not just the happy times of day (well, happy in comparison with the dreadful night).

 

EDIT:

 It can be made so, even playing always at the same real world time every day, you play at a different time in-game. For example, with a 5 or 7 hour cycle.

Let's imagine a 7 hour cycle. We begin at 00:00 at midnight in the real world, and it is 00:00 in game. Then at 3:30 it's noon, and at 7:00 it's midnight again. Then at 14:00, 21:00 of the same day, and 4:00, 11:00, 18:00, of the next day, will be midnight. That means, that someone playing an hour at 18:00 (6 pm), will play the first day at day, but next day it will be midnight.

 

 

Do you think this will empty all servers? Would people stop playing in the main hive?

Please don't bother to post "nope". Please elaborate.

Edited January 7, 2014 by HellSnake

[weparo 613]

I think that'd it be nice to see these suggestions happen, but I'm not too optimistic tbh....

 #2 is a real priority though! I think that it needs to be done asap. Just hard code a given gamma value into the engine! please?

[kichilron 8550]

1- Get rid of the gamma slider. Whoever wants to adjust the gamma can do so in their monitor's settings. That way would be a post-render setting and wouldn't make visible something that's invisible, which is what happens with the current system.

 

Agreed, though it's a touchy subject. Some people say they won't be able to play on their monitors without. I myself have a TV-screen connected to my computer and I can play fine with normal Gamma.

 

 

 

2- Flashlights need to be fixed (Yes, it's alpha, I know). This is important, because while flashlights go through walls, looting inside a building at night is nearly impossible. With no ambient light from the flashlight "bouncing" on surfaces, it's really hard to see. And you can see people looting buildings from miles away.

 

I believe that's being worked on already. Even the sun is shining through buildings, so that definitely needs fixing anyway.

 

 

 

2- Synchronize server times, so all servers are at the same time of day (No more 24/7 daytime servers, and people can't server hop to a daytime server when it gets dark). Whoever HATES night, can play in a private hive.

 

 

Wat? 2 again? Anyway: Won't work. How will it work that I can play at daytime, because it's stuck to US times? And if it's not, why would it be off for someone else? And if it's continent specific it defeats its purpose as I can play on US servers anyway. Won't work either way.

 

 

 

3- Maybe locking the time zones would be a bit harsh for those that could only play at night (I wouldn't like it), so, to compensate, lower the duration of the day/night cycle to something reasonable. Anything from 5 to 10 hours would be unnoticeable unless looking at a clock.

 

 

You don't notice playing for 5 - 10 hours? You need to take a break from time to time!

[Master_Corruptor 10]

I kinda like the night... makes it harder to see me ;)

 

But I would like faster day night cycles indeed. Most of the time when I have time to play. It's mostly on servers that have night.

[HardstylerSL 16]

Well, i like the idea, cause i like playing in the dark.

But my main issue with timezone servers that i will never see the day(z)light again i guess.... even if it's 5-10 hours for day/night cycle, chances are high that you might never see daylight. (cause of my work-schedule being uneven).

 

I know, many will hate it... but i would prefer a cycle of maybe 30 minutes up to an hour.... cause even with low sparetime you can enjoy the whole game in day and night. ;)

[doublebrain 255]

Ive seen almost full servers and when I joined them it was pitch black. So there have to be enough people who like nighttime that you dont have to play on an almost empty server to play at night. Therefore.. I dont see any problem with that?

[enforcer1975 1111]

There has to be a certain tolerance so players can adjust the brightness depending on their monitor. Thee has to be a system that only let's you set it up in a difficult fashion ( adjust > restart ) rather than on the fly to preven gamma abuse.

 

Sorry to tell you but the flashlight problem has been known since OFP and i doubt it will be fixed in the  next ten years either..at least not by BIS. The ambient light can be done in a very simple way ( trick ) but seeing the devs add needless or half baked features i doubt anyone would read this and add it immediately.

 

There will always be pussies that have to play on day servers although every player has the same problems to deal with on night time server. Yeah nobody wants to use the flashlight because of the problem mentioned above the fact is they don't want to use the flashlight because of the KoSers. It just came to mind that admins setting to 24/7 day also disobey the rules the same as admins "forcing" PVE on their servers but that doesn't seem to bother anyone does it...don't answer with "BUT BUT..." It's the same.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Enforcer

[weparo 613]

You don't notice playing for 5 - 10 hours? You need to take a break from time to time!

 

duuuuuude.... no. Because in the course of days/weeks the daytime would always shift. That means everybody has an equal chance to play at day/night. I think his ideas are very decent

 

Wat? 2 again? Anyway: Won't work. How will it work that I can play at daytime, because it's stuck to US times? And if it's not, why would it be off for someone else? And if it's continent specific it defeats its purpose as I can play on US servers anyway. Won't work either way.!

 

Because of a day/night cycle being bigger/smaller than 24 hours, yes it would. Some times it'd be day, others night.

 

EDIT : My derp post needed correction ;)

Edited January 6, 2014 by Weparo

[Statik (DayZ) 2695]

I like the ideas, but don't touch the timezones.

Locking timezones is just plain stupid, and I don't see why people want to force players to play on a server of their choice

If they want to hop to day servers, then let them.

[HellSnake 26]

Wat? 2 again? Anyway: Won't work. How will it work that I can play at daytime, because it's stuck to US times? And if it's not, why would it be off for someone else? And if it's continent specific it defeats its purpose as I can play on US servers anyway. Won't work either way.

 

 

 

Sorry, I added a paragraph and didn't change the numbers... I'm dumb like that. To solve the problem of someone being stuck in a specific time of day I added number 4, to have shorter day/time cycles so people can enjoy/suffer every phase of the day.

 

 

You don't notice playing for 5 - 10 hours? You need to take a break from time to time!

 

 

Of course I notice, I play 4 hours straight at most. I usually play for 2 hours, more or less. But playing 2 and a half hours in a 5 hour cycle (just an example) would get you from noon to midnight, or viceversa. In just one session. That way we can enjoy all aspects of DayZ, not just the happy times of day (well, happy in comparison with the dreadful night). I don't know if I explained myself correctly in that point.

 

With the current system, to experience a full day in-game in just one session, you need to play for 24 hours straight, without the server restarting. Talk about having no life.

 

 

Well, i like the idea, cause i like playing in the dark.

But my main issue with timezone servers that i will never see the day(z)light again i guess.... even if it's 5-10 hours for day/night cycle, chances are high that you might never see daylight. (cause of my work-schedule being uneven).

 

I know, many will hate it... but i would prefer a cycle of maybe 30 minutes up to an hour.... cause even with low sparetime you can enjoy the whole game in day and night. ;)

 

It can be made so, even playing always at the same real world time every day, you play at a different time in-game. For example, with a 5 or 7 hour cycle.

Let's imagine a 7 hour cycle. We begin at 00:00 at midnight in the real world, and it is 00:00 in game. Then at 3:30 it's noon, and at 7:00 it's midnight again. Then at 14:00, 21:00 of the same day, and 4:00, 11:00, 18:00, of the next day, will be midnight. That means, that someone playing an hour at 18:00 (6 pm), will play the first day at day, but next day it will be midnight.

 

 

Ive seen almost full servers and when I joined them it was pitch black. So there have to be enough people who like nighttime that you dont have to play on an almost empty server to play at night. Therefore.. I dont see any problem with that?

 

Well, I've never found a full server at night time in the 65 hours that I've played this game. They are always at less that 10 people. I can't argue with you on this one, we just have had different experiences. Maybe it's our timezones? I'm at GMT time.

 

 

Sorry to tell you but the flashlight pronlem has been known since OFP and i doubt it will be fixed in the coming during the next ten years either..at least not by BIS. The ambient light can be done in a very simple way ( trick ) but seeing the devs add needless or half baked features i doubt anyone would read this and add it immediately.

 

 

I see what you mean, but we need to aim high with our suggestions. If only part of our suggestions is doable, then we've helped develop the game, even if it's just a little. Anyway, who would have thought that the ARMA 2 engine could handle what it's handling right now? It's up to the devs to say what's possible and what's not. I'm certainly not keeping my hopes up with the suggestions in this thread, mainly because I think they are quite unpopular. But I make them anyway. It's my way to try to help.

 

 

There will always be pussies that have to play on day servers although every player has the same problems to deal with on night time server. Yeah nobody wants to use the flashlight because of the problem mentioned above the fact is they don't want to use the flashlight because of the KoSers. It just came to mind that admins setting to 24/7 day also disobey the rules the same as admins "forcing" PVE on their servers but that doesn't seem to bother anyone does it...don't answer with "BUT BUT..." It's the same.

 

 

That's why I'm saying that time of day shouldn't be a server option in the public hive. You're right that maybe noone cares enough, but I can only try :)

 

 

I like the ideas, but don't touch the timezones.

Locking timezones is just plain stupid, and I don't see why people want to force players to play on a server of their choice

If they want to hop to day servers, then let them.

 

I suggested that because night servers are always empty. At least in my experience, because someone else said that they could find full nighttime servers. Not my case. Anyway, we aren't forcing anyone to play only at night, it's just playing how it is intended, with days and nights. If people absolutely hate the night, they can always use private hives. That's why I asked if people thought this would be too unpopular so people would stop playing in the main hive servers.

Edited January 6, 2014 by HellSnake