Why not three hour dayz?

[hefeweizen 254]

Currently, night cleans out servers. its just a fact of Dayz. I honestly think the only way to get people to play at night is to make switching to a daytime server not an option. To do that all public servers would have to be on the same Day/Night cycle. But how do you do that without casting certain parts of the world in eternal darkness?

Well, first of all you're going to have to give up on 24h days. I know some realism hounds are flipping their beans right now, so bare with me. Changing 24hr days doesn't necessarily mean shorter days. We could make the days 25h if it was the best choice. The point is in order to make having all the servers on the same time cycle fair, the time in game in relation to the time in real life needs to change on a fairly regular basis. I think that is a fair place to start.

Now personally, I think much faster days are the right way to go. First, it would offer more variety in game play. Playing at night all the time can be terrible, but I think more players would stay on the same server through the night time if they knew it wouldn't be that way for 6+ hours. Second, honestly I think it fits better with the whole "starving to death in a couple hours" thing. It makes absolutely no sense that your survivor can starve to death over the course of a few hours, however if those hours were meant take the place of a day or so, maybe a more believable balance could be struck where your survivor starving to death so quickly would make a bit more sense.

So, lastly over discussions with a couple of friends about how long a usual DayZ session last we arrived at a little more than 3 hours. Roughly two hours dawn to dusk, with about one hour and fifteen minutes of night. This would allow players to experience the full range of the day/night cycle in what can be considered a "normal" play session. It would accomplish the goal of changing the time in game in comparison to the time in real life on a regular basis and it would make starving to death quickly more believable, if still slightly too fast.

I'm guessing a lot of people would absolutely hate this idea, but other will like it. I'd love to hear why.

TL;DR Nobody plays on server thats are dark because nights are too long, and they can always find a day time server. We should make days much shorter, and put all the servers on the same cycle.

P.S. All this would also hinge on Rocket and Co. making the night time experience better overall. Making flashlights more ambient, Fixing light going through walls, locking down the gamma cheaters, adding more light sources. But I can't see that NOT happenings, its just a matter of when.

[soulfirez 901]

I cant see your idea being popular not at all and i am not sure exactly about all servers on the same time line but i kinda agree about the 24 hr day in Dayz yes the ultra realisim crew would/will hate the idea but i mean the amount we eat and drink in the day our hunger thirst moves alot faster than what is realistic on a 24 hour day heck it seems paced more for a 4 or 6 hour day night cycle.

 

But honestly dont think they will change the time cycle (although when there are private hives they may be able to change the day night cycle..

[akspecs 3]

stay off my night servers.  pls.  moar loot for me.

[Adelheid 9]

Off topic: love your name.

[Element47 2480]

wait till we can set things on fire. especially zombies, animals and other players. those will be glorious nights.

[wild_man 4442]

is not darkness what make players going from night server :|

is gamma cheat players who ruin for everyone what should be most immersion scare atmosphere aspect of dayz >:(

fix gamma issue and night server get busy again ;)

me I don't give fucks

I play night time no gamma cheat bullshit and I always find busy server for play :)

 

edit on topic keep realism day night cycle :thumbsup:  :rolleyes:

Edited January 9, 2014 by KoS

[hefeweizen 254]

Why realism day/nights but not realism when it comes to starvation, if you don't mind me asking?

[wild_man 4442]

Why realism day/nights but not realism when it comes to starvation, if you don't mind me asking?

 

realism day/night cycle add some great feature ;)

is possible to navigate from sun/stars/moon :)

eat/drink mechanic is design to give us something for doing and worry for all the time

nobody playing for 72 hours to start to feel very hungry :huh:

Edited January 9, 2014 by KoS

[BattleMetalChris 6]

I'd love this. I like to experience night-play but find doing it for long periods unbearable. The only real option I have is to jump into a server that's set to night-time for 30 minutes or so and then back out which ruins the continuity.

 

Half an hour to an hour of enforced night, followed by possibly a longer day as daytime play is arguably more fun (we can say its summertime or something, so 2/3 of the day is daylight).

 

In fact, why not have seasons, especially once weather and cold is implemented? A 4 hour day/night cycle makes for about a 2-month year cycle, the servers could have a random day of the year. This would also let you pick a server which matches the kind of play you want without having to endure an entire session in darkness.

[hefeweizen 254]

realism day/night cycle add some great feature ;)

is possible to navigate from sun/stars/moon :)

eat/drink mechanic is design to give us something for doing and worry for all the time

nobody playing for 72 hours to start to feel very hungry :huh:

and how would you go about encouraging people to play at night instead of switching to a day time server? I agree night time has its own set of rules and challenges that can be a lot of fun, and I think more players should be involved in it. As it stands most people seem to be playing only on day time servers for the most part, as it was in the mod.

[wild_man 4442]

and how would you go about encouraging people to play at night instead of switching to a day time server? I agree night time has its own set of rules and challenges that can be a lot of fun, and I think more players should be involved in it. As it stands most people seem to be playing only on day time servers for the most part, as it was in the mod.

some people don't like to play night time

night time is difficult for see, use torch is high risk and zeds coming from nowhere in town around low fence situation kill me many time :D

system with realism day/night cycle give all guys what they want

guys who like more daytime find server where is daytime :thumbsup:  ;)

guys who like night time do opposite

also sometime I like to play marathon style session 6 hour + I don't want night day night day switch happen every 3 hour :huh:

I like to feel is real time thing ;)

gamma cheat is big issue is make many guys not feel safe or is unfair thing to play night AS IS DESIGN FOR PLAY

fix gamma exploit and every player try more night time for sure

 

so point to answer question how to make more guys trying night time I say grow testicle and prepare for scares

 

like in real world night time no street light for see is make everything difficult, try challenge and enjoy extra fear  :thumbsup:  ;)

Edited January 9, 2014 by KoS

[Greaves 131]

I love nighttime when the moon is not behind clouds, and sheds some light on everything. Just enough to see where you're going, and dark shapes of other players. I think i actually prefer it over daytime. But when the moon is gone, and everything is literally pitch black, no thanks. I wouldn't go outside in such nights in a zombie apocalypse in real life, so why should i in game?

Edited January 9, 2014 by Greaves

[wild_man 4442]

I love nighttime when the moon is not behind clouds, and sheds some light on everything. I think i actually prefer it over daytime. But when the moon is gone, and everything is literally pitch black, no thanks. I wouldn't go outside in such nights in a zombie apocalypse in real life, so why should i in game?

you say honest way and respect for not using gamma cheat ;)

me I love total darkness

I like to put headtorch and take risk see what happen :)

 

is normal guys shoot on me sometime I die no idea what happen sometime they miss I see flash for gun and hunt begin :thumbsup: :ph34r:

also is surprise how many guys coming for chat no shoot

maybe fear of dark unite some guys :)

Edited January 9, 2014 by KoS

[hefeweizen 254]

Headtorch = Landing lights for bullets.

[wild_man 4442]

Headtorch = Landing lights for bullets.

I like to call headtorch ACTION MAGNET ;)

[ImageCtrl 719]

-only day servers is ok

-24 h day/night cycle is ok

 

to each his own... (for me private hive 24 h day/night cycle)

 

A option for the servers to change the 24 h cycle in any other cycle should be implemented.

The night gamma bug should be fixed.

Edited January 9, 2014 by NoCheats

[hefeweizen 254]

 

I think it is all OK.

-only day servers is ok

-24 h day/night cycle is ok

 

to each his own... (for me private hive 24 h day/night cycle)

 

A option for the servers to change the 24 h cycle in any other cycle should be implemented.

 

Thats probably the best option. I just don't like that given those options 90% of the player base will choose 24h days. Some times you just can't give people that easiest option, or else that is all they're going to do. In the mod when people had the chance to play on "1000 Extra Barracks, 999 Vehicles, Starting Loadout!" servers they flocked to them on mass and the game definitely lost something as a result.

[floj 393]

I agree with locking the public hive to the same clock - day/night cycle is being implemented by devs, it's intended to be experienced as part of the survival experience. As it stands at the moment it needs a lot of tweaking to make it playable without gamma tweaks (and to remove the advantage of players using gamma tweaks over those that don't). At the moment players can and will just avoid nighttime as it suits them to and rob themselves of part of the zombie apocalypse experience (whoever heard of a zombie game/film based purely in bright daylight?)
 
I also agree with only about an hour of night-time per cycle, but my idea for this is to have Chernarus on a far Northern latitude during the Summer months - this would result in a stretched out daytime and shortened night, with substantial amounts of dawn/dusk/twilight light levels. If you go far enough North into the Arctic circle you could actually have a 24hr day...but I think that's over the top and would render lightsources and NVG (if implemented) useless. So yaeh I'd have night-times taking a short percentage of the overall cycle.
 
In order for the public hive to ALL be locked tothe same clock either the cycle has to be short enough so that any play session will loop through the cycle OR the cycle has to be long and unsynced with the RL 24hr cycle. Having a really short cycle will screw with anyone using celestial bodies for navigation (Sun and Moon will whizz around and make it hard to maintain the same bearing). So I'd recommend 20 hour cycles. This would ensure that players who play the same day every day will have the in-game time shunted forwards by 4hrs each time, players who play at the same time/day on a weekly basis will have the same experience - which in turn ensures that people in one timezone or another don't get stuck in perpetual darkness!
 
 

20hr cycle implementationReal Life    In-game6pm Mon     12am Day 16pm Tue      4am Day 26pm Wed      8am Day 36pm Thu     12pm Day 46pm Fri      4pm Day 56pm Sat      8pm Day 66pm Sun     12am Day 76pm Mon      4am Day 8...

If people want to play in perpetual daylight (and ignore an experience the devs intend) they should play on private hives.


EDIT: Just realised I did a 28hr instead of 20hr cycle - amended nm

Edited January 9, 2014 by phlOgistOn

[razgriz93@gmail.com 228]

wait till we can set things on fire. especially zombies, animals and other players. those will be glorious nights.

I hope there will be foxes.

So I can browse the forums directly in-game.

[ImageCtrl 719]

Thats probably the best option. I just don't like that given those options 90% of the player base will choose 24h days. Some times you just can't give people that easiest option, or else that is all they're going to do. In the mod when people had the chance to play on "1000 Extra Barracks, 999 Vehicles, Starting Loadout!" servers they flocked to them on mass and the game definitely lost something as a result.

I think this is a other problem. It´s not about PVE servers, 1000 Extra Barracks, 999 Vehicles or Starting Loadout.

They can do it anyway (playing only at daytime). They can stop playing at night. They can start playing again at day time. They have no benefits.

The goal can't be that players stop playing.

Edited January 9, 2014 by NoCheats

[hefeweizen 254]

I think this is a other problem. It´s not about PVE servers, 1000 Extra Barracks, 999 Vehicles or Starting Loadout.

They can do it anyway. Stop playing. Start playing again at day time. They have no benefits.

The goal can´t be that players stop playing.

I think people would be less inclined to stop playing at night time if night time wasn't so soul crushingly long. There has to be a balance that could be struck that would suite the vast majority of people, and make night part of the DayZ experience again.

[Greaves 131]

I don't really get WHY you wan't so many people in night time servers though. Wouldn't most people be asleep IRL? And than there's the people who simply don't risk getting munched on by a zombie in the dark. Sure, some people might be roaming around, but that would be as many as there are in the servers at the moment.

 

So you already have realism, basically.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Greaves

[floj 393]

You don't have realism though. Realism would be having to find a safe place to setup camp for the night and still having the potential for flesh eating zombies to stumble upon that camp and attack you in your sleep. Zombie games/media without darkness is just wrong.

[hefeweizen 254]

I don't really get WHY you wan't so many people in night time servers though. Wouldn't most people be asleep IRL? And than there's the people who simply don't risk getting munched on by a zombie in the dark. Sure, some people might be roaming around, but that would be as many as there are in the servers at the moment.

 

So you already have realism, basically.

Well, if people slept during the evenings they'd likely get eaten by Zed. I think dealing with the dangers of the darkness is a vital part of the zombie apocalypse experience and the game loses something when night can be easily sidestepped by simply hopping to another server.

[Greaves 131]

You don't have realism though. Realism would be having to find a safe place to setup camp for the night and still having the potential for flesh eating zombies to stumble upon that camp and attack you in your sleep. Zombie games/media without darkness is just wrong.

 

I just assume that when i log off, my character finds an empty house, (maybe a regular one where he stores his books), barricades the doors and sleeps and reads books. When i log on, he'll be at the place where i left him, ready to get more food and stuff.

 

People wouldn't just fall down where they are in the middle of a field, and fall asleep to be munched on by zombies. They find shelter.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Greaves