Water and energy consumption rates figured out - and they are not as I expected

[(TMW) Merino 507]

Hello fellow survivors,

I been trying to give a proper answer rather than vague advice to the question "How much do I really need to eat and drink?" for a while. When I got to think more about it, I realized that something important is missing: water and energy consumption rates. A few days and numerous experiments later, here's what I came up with:

- The game only differentiates two states: I call them active and idle

- You are idle whenever you are not moving

- You are active whenever you are moving, disregarding the speed

That means that you expend the same amount of water and energy in a given period of time whether you are crawling, jogging or sprinting at top speed.

And here are the rates:

- while active, your storages drain at a rate of 20 water and 15 energy per minute

- while idle, your storages drain at a rate of 8 water and 4 energy per minute

See for yourself how I came to those conclusions:

Water and energy consumption worked out

And here's how we can apply this knowledge to make proper statements like "A can of baked beans contains enough energy to run for 31 minutes and enough water to run for 17 minutes" - for all foods and drinks:

How much do I really need to eat and drink?

I hope this information is helpful to you in any way, shape or form and maybe you can think of other scenarios where it can be applied to work out more stuff. For science!

Stay healthy, my friends

Edited January 7, 2014 by (TMW) Merino

[DevilDog (DayZ) 455]

Bull crap. Kiwi is way under powered :P

 

Great post, amazing work by you med folks over there. :thumbsup: :beans:

[nighhawk 41]

I was wondering why after crawling for 10 seconds I'm out of breath.

[The_Man 393]

I saw these videos of yours on youtube the other day. Really appreciate the time you put into them. There are shorter videos out there but yours goes really in depth. Appreciate it. 

 

You should consider making a graphic displaying all this information so it can be readily available quickly. 

[ToMaZi 1]

You should put these on Steam and reddit/r/dayz too.

[Mookzen 67]

Good work, though it is fair to assume that eventually running will drain energy faster.

[Etherimp 1323]

Amazing guides. Thanks so much for this. I am shocked at how few players have ever seen the "Healthy" status..meanwhile I get it on every character who survives the coast. 

 

My trick-> Find water pump, drink about 15 times. -> Eat Random food stuffs I find on my journey -> Find bag of Rice, and another water pump -> Consume entire bag of rice, and drink at water pump until "full" -> Healing/Healthy status appears shortly after.

 

One thing you really helped to clear up is the differences between Health and Blood. The next piece of the puzzle is to figure out the Shock, Blood, and Health damage values of all of the items in the game.

 

 

(Note: I just watched 3 of your more recent videos at once, and I'm mostly referring to the healing/health related video.)

 

The Energy/Water videos are also amazing.. Good to know that you can last ~2 hours on full "water".

 

One question though; How many times do you have to drink at a water pump to get your "water" to the max (Is it 3000 or 4000?)

Edited January 7, 2014 by Etherimp

[zaczac111 1]

Thanks mate!

[Steak and Potatoes 13480]

Great work Merino :beans:

[toxicsludge 406]

Whilst this is a great post, am I the only one who fears that when you tear down the game mechanics into a simple numbers game, the game itself becomes no longer fun?

[Boonie 216]

I would say there is a 30-40% chance of that happening, although if you add in a factor of death-surival in a fire fight the enjoyment level will increase by 10% although you could subtract......oh hang on.

[Mutonizer 78]

Nice work

 

 

Whilst this is a great post, am I the only one who fears that when you tear down the game mechanics into a simple numbers game, the game itself becomes no longer fun?

 

Like dietetics and the like? The raw numbers are useful in Alpha stage to give proper feedback and reports I think.

 

You can also ignore the raw numbers if you want and just take in the logic of it. I don't mind much about x or y factors but already you can see that identical water/energy consumption for any movement is a major issue. Can see as well that most of the food items are totally irrelevant based on just these findings.

There "might" be more to it and it'll change as the Alpha continues, but already, on a personal level, I see that my "perception" of lower energy/water consumption because I walk/jog was completely false, which is interesting. Won't change how I play but now we can talk rationally about it.

[rickenbacker 190]

I was wondering why after crawling for 10 seconds I'm out of breath.

 

That has nothing to do with it. The heavy breathing is just an indicator that you now can't shoot straight for a while :). 

[Frostbyte_ 44]

Finaly something to slam to the face of people crying how unrealisticly often they need to drink and refusing to admit it when they´re told they´re not understading the mechanics.

 

 

Personaly i don´t mind the raw numbers getting out there for few reasons.

Current indicators of your characters situation are kinda lacking, and all the food packaging is missing it´s nutrition value labels, so damn right there should be a way for learned survivor to find what´s good for his person (maybe drop a book in game...."nutrition and you - chernarus edition"). I know i can find out that stuff in reality, where it´s represented by far more than 2 values, so i don´t see a problem if i know it in game.

And secondly the other part of the numbers is still hidden (the values you actualy have), unless you start calculating your intake and consumption rates. And then it´s pretty much authentic anyway, since you really can count calories and nutritient intakes in reality too (or get overcharged for letting "an expert" do it).

[(TMW) Merino 507]

Whilst this is a great post, am I the only one who fears that when you tear down the game mechanics into a simple numbers game, the game itself becomes no longer fun?

But in all seriousness, a valid point. I can absolutely understand people who would rather enjoy the experience without being aware of all the inner workings that remind them that this is just an artificial simulation. Ignorance (and please don't read that with a negative connotation) is bliss after all and allows you to focus your mind on the experience rather than being distracted by attempts to predict and anticipate.

But then again, I think there's an innate human, nay, life's urge to learn from negative experiences. "Hm, this situation was disadvantageous, I wonder how I can avoid that in the future." If a form of life didn't have that instinct, it would not exist anymore by now. So I think it's only natural to think about how to understand the given facts of reality - or virtuality in the case of games - to improve, or even perhaps save, your life.

In reality we come equipped with everything we need to comprehend situations of lesser complexity. And for everything beyond that, there's science. In DayZ however, we have only an extremely limited set of sensory capabilities: namely the fairly ambiguous status texts and messages with an extremely low granularity. By breaking it down to the numbers and converting them into something we can comprehend, all we're doing is adding another layer of sensory capability. A better feeling for the rules of the simulated environment that we would be able to make out intuitively in reality. Make the black box that is your virtual body a little less opaque.

While I understand that knowing too much about something may take away the excitement and the thrill of the unknown, I personally find it no less exciting to be able to tell why things happen when they happen. Takes none of the entertainment value away for me. Quite the opposite: the more I understand something, the more I can enjoy its complexity. Seeing how one tiny gear affects the other below the surface and just how the whole system... works is just as much fun to me as is finding and treating injured players or handing out can openers and canteens to newspawns or just meeting and talking to people. And I'm sure that a large portion of players wouldn't consider any of these to be "fun".

Edited January 7, 2014 by (TMW) Merino

[DevilDog (DayZ) 455]

I like to know how things work. I won't be planning by back pack based on any of these findings. I really don't carry much food anyway. I eat everything I can until healthy and then don't carry anymore.

[shawnofthedead 8]

what about exhaustion wouldn't that be a factor? i would assume running with fists up you will start getting exhausted faster and will need to rest (F3) more often.

[n1mble 10]

Are you sure energy rates don't deplete more quickly than your water or food values? This statement probably shows how poorly I grasp these mechanics, I swear that my 'healthy' status stays longer when I'm jogging but it is purely circumstance. It may be that I loaded up more on food in one instance or another. It seems your tests are extremely thorough so I will take your word for it. Thanks man.

[Rissou 42]

what about exhaustion wouldn't that be a factor? i would assume running with fists up you will start getting exhausted faster and will need to rest (F3) more often.

you are kidding right? There is never a reason to press f3 unless you wanna look chill.

[slivniku@gmail.com 93]

wow mate, thanx for this, explains so much

have all my beans :beans: :beans: :beans: :beans: :beans:

sorry, don't have enought o make you full ;)

 

PS: as per the question of knowing the mechanics ruining the game - nope; I would have never have thought rocket complicated things as much (made things so realistic); so while we will not remember the numbers we will remember the key points which will improve our game

[(TMW) Merino 507]

Are you sure energy rates don't deplete more quickly than your water or food values? This statement probably shows how poorly I grasp these mechanics,...

Yes, I'm afraid it does. A quick summary: there is no such thing as a food value. There is energy, which you can think of as being calories, and a water, which is the hydration of your body. There is water (i.e. hydration) in many food items and there is energy (i.e. calories) in one of the drinks: soda. Yes, foods are typically high on energy/calories and drinks are typically high on water/hydration, but don't use them as interchangable synonyms.

To formulate the rates differently:

- while active, you lose 20 units of hydration and burn 15 calories per minute

- while idle, you lose 8 units of hydration and burn 4 calories per minute

Easier to understand now?

I also have a video dedicated to how energy, water, stomach, food, drinks, regeneration and all those things work and how they are interconnected. It's pretty long, but it may help you understand a bit better: DayZ Standalone In-Depth Guide: Hunger, Thirst, Regenerating Blood and Health

[slivniku@gmail.com 93]

you should probably edit the OP to include all 4 of your videos, all are very interesting,

[PongoZ 127]

sigh, I have walked so far. 

sigh.

I wish I never knew the truth now!

[Bakercompany86 347]

Thanks Doc!  Another amazing set of videos! (And your accent really makes you sound like a Scientist  :D )

 

 

Much appreciated, please take my  :beans:

[frosti 2165]

How do you restore this energy thing?