Night Time is Unplayable

[irl-calibre 744]

to play at night just

 

turn clouds - off

Shadows - high

HDR - low

Brightness up full

leave gamma default

 

game is very playable and atmospheric

 

To those that say "yeah, but wait until you are killed by some asshole with their gamma cranked!!" I say "so Fuck?" there are 10 thousand random glitches you can die to, mysterious character wipes, and other ways to die, you are going to die eventually, i'd say I've at least 80+ hours played in night time and I have never been killed by another player once that whole time, I've fallen to my death, died climbing up ladders, been mysteriously thrown through walls, but not one bullet has ended my life, but my heart has nearly stopped a few times from shock, to not play at night in a "horror zombie apocalypse" and only run round like it's a perpetual summers day is just sad really, you are missing out on so much!

 

Edited January 14, 2014 by Calibre

[Old_Crow_Whiskey 119]

The developers believe the current night time is not realistic and they have confirmed that they have spent almost no time on night game play, especially with regard to night time shaders. Just like with the soundscape, the night time landscape is getting a full rebuild from the ground up. Patience and perpetual daytime in the mean time.

[Olfart 13]

Night... has potential, but is currently a bit of a disaster. A few points:

 

Flash lights in general don't work right:

A real flashlight has the usual cone of light you see in dayz (everything that comes from the reflector), but it also has a wider dimmer cone from the direct light from the source. This wider cone is missing in dayz, and that really hurts, as it removes so much of your awareness. The wider dimmer cone needs to be added to all flash lights, head torches and weapon flashlights. This will make a huge difference, even if the wider cone is weak and short-ranged. Since light also doesn't *reflect* it hurts even more. If you point a normal flashlight at a wall, you illuminate the entire area a bit through reflection. This doesn't exist in DayZ, which further makes the narrow cone unbearable.

 

Point source light is broken:

The gas powered lamp doesn't work; it doesn't provide light in your inventory, when held or when dropped. This point source of light would be great when the zombies come running. Needs to be fixed. When this works as intended, it'll be awesome.

 

Duct tape!

The flashlight is effectively useless for everything except running away and searching for beans, as you can't use a weapon with the flashlight out. You can potentially drop the flashlight, and try to fight the zombies in the cone of light but... this is a hassle. The flashlight needs working duct tape, so *any* ranged weapon could be jury-rigged with a light source that points (mostly) in the right direction.

 

Weapon flashlights:

The weapon flashlight is currently available for the M4 only, and only with a special grip - making it pretty rare and hard to get. It's very useful when you do get it; it's really the only effective way of fighting in the dark, and it's super for keeping the beasties at bay. Needs to be attachable to more weapons. I'm pretty sure there's weapon flashlights for pistols for example.

 

Head torch is a head ache:

The headtorch is currently the go-to light for all night time needs as it's the only light you can use with a weapon - any weapon, including melee. It has an unfortunate tendency to go from pristine to ruined in 1 zombie hit, but that may be intentional. A bigger problem is that it's always pointing in the wrong direction: as soon as you raise a weapon, the character lowers his head, leaving your direct line of sight with zero illumination and forcing you to fire blindly into the night, hoping the zombie hasn't moved. Don't even think about crouching or going prone, unless you wish to provide lighting for ants. If the head torch was tilted up just a bit more, so it pointed in the general direction you are aiming in, it'd actually be useful, even if it's usless when crouched or prone.

 

As for the ambient lighting:

Fair enough, DayZ is *really* dark. The occasional moonlit night wouldn't hurt. On moonless nights though, with the power out, it really is that dark; you literally can't see the hand in front of your face. I rather like that this is true in DayZ - but until we get some of the above points fixed, I'm not surprised people chose daytime servers; night time is an unbelieveable pain in the butt (until you get an m4 with a flashlight...) I've done quite a bit of night play tonight, searching through airfields and army bases for that elusive grip and weapon flashlight for my m4 (found it at last!) and I gotta say it's fun... At night you really need to worry about zombies. During the day you just hack at them with your axe while running circles, but at night... oh my, I actually chose to make noise and "waste" ammo. If the lights just worked tight, I'd play night time a whole lot more! So yes, add some moonlight now and then, but other than that, I'd like it to stay dark. Night shouldn't just be a change of mood lighting - it should render rifles virtually ineffective - unless you are either close enough to light them up, or you are aiming at someone's head torch.

Edited January 14, 2014 by Olfart

[Highlander007 249]

to play at night just

 

turn clouds - off

Shadows - high

HDR - low

Brightness up full

leave gamma default

 

game is very playable and atmospheric

 

To those that say "yeah, but wait until you are killed by some asshole with their gamma cranked!!" I say "so Fuck?" there are 10 thousand random glitches you can die to, mysterious character wipes, and other ways to die, you are going to die eventually, i'd say I've at least 80+ hours played in night time and I have never been killed by another player once that whole time, I've fallen to my death, died climbing up ladders, been mysteriously thrown through walls, but not one bullet has ended my life, but my heart has nearly stopped a few times from shock, to not play at night in a "horror zombie apocalypse" and only run round like it's a perpetual summers day is just sad really, you are missing out on so much!

 

Op is talking about this night, when all u see with gamma maxed is:

 

Edited January 14, 2014 by Highlander007

[Element47 2480]

as someone walking the dog in the park before going to sleep, i can confirm that even urban park nights are as pictured in the second image - if sufficient cloud cover/new moon.

 

but i also agree it is a pain in the ass to play without a torch, trying to 'feel' your way through the forest.

[Munchermanjz 36]

you people need to stop whining about night. Theres nothing wrong with it. It makes a completely different playstyle necessary during nighttime. I mean, have any of you ever tried to see at night when theres no moon/overcast, AND you were at least an hour's drive from the nearest rest stop in the middle of a desert? Dozens of miles from anywhere you'd even see a street light? If you can't say you've been in those or similar conditions, you have no idea what night really looks like and have no place to say if the game has it realistic or not. The only thing they should do is make the few street lights in game provide more light. The light can't even reach the ground half the time.

[frosti 2165]

you people need to stop whining about night. Theres nothing wrong with it. It makes a completely different playstyle necessary during nighttime. I mean, have any of you ever tried to see at night when theres no moon/overcast, AND you were at least an hour's drive from the nearest rest stop in the middle of a desert? Dozens of miles from anywhere you'd even see a street light? If you can't say you've been in those or similar conditions, you have no idea what night really looks like and have no place to say if the game has it realistic or not. The only thing they should do is make the few street lights in game provide more light. The light can't even reach the ground half the time.

 

People are just used to "nights" from casual games where night is just a litle darker day (or Holywood nights).

 

NIghts are great on experimental servers, becouse gamma exploit was fixed and do not work. If you want to see something you have to use flashlight.

[gingatsu 68]

So I tend to play in "always daytime" servers, because I find night time to be unplayable in this game. The screen is pitch-black and you can see practically nothing. Raising the Gamma or the Brightness does little to help, and honestly shouldn't be necessary in a game with good visibility. Dayz Standalone is supposed to be realistic, and IRL it is not NEARLY so dark at night.

 

Night time should be interesting to play and add a new dynamic to the game, however currently it is just worthless. Add to that the fact that the flashlight doesn't seem to work (yes it has a full battery).

 

And has anyone else noticed that 90% of the servers are the same? Like they are always all in the same time of day? Presumably this is because those servers are in a time-zone where it is night, but really, I'm in California, and if I want to play during the day in-game and it's day-time in America, apparently I can't unless I choose a custom server. Seems kinda dumb.

 

Tell me what you think in the comments! Should graphics/visuals/visibility be improved for the night? And should servers display what time-zone they are so you aren't going in blind?

 

Thanks!

Sorry to disappoint you friend but night time in real life is PITCH BLACK...

 

you see the surroundings illuminated during night time because there is allways a light source in your surroundings... but just for once, pack your camping stuff and go to the mountains and camp over night... you will realise that you cant even see the tip of your nose when there is no light source for you.

 

So your comment to the matter of night time in Day Z is unrealistic, because you just werent able to play on night server due to the following reasons as

1) you dont want to be seen when you're sneaking around

2)you would definitely be spotted if you open your flashlight/head torch/weapon flashlight therefore you don't want this

3)But the night servers are mostly very low populated because most of the people dont want to risk to be seen and got shot because of their lights. So they prefer to play in daytime servers. So this possibility gives you more chances to hoard items and weapons and you can gear up more quickly without any risk.

 

and as a side note... the Flashlight or head torch or weapon flashlight does illuminate quite well I have used it all time and every time it is the same good quality.

[InvisiMan2013 229]

In a game based off realism, i don't have a problem with the low visibility of night time.

 

Then it should be realistic for EVERYONE... I was in an experimental server last night and it was pitch black, but I had other players around me saying "I can see you" and it was only until I turned my flashlight on that I saw them - and they weren't that close to me.  If adjusting brightness, graphic, gamma settings gives someone an advantage at night, it's defeats the point of "realism". 

[fiese_moep 14]

A gas lamp does a amazing job. You can have it in your backpack and it illuminates everything arround you.

 

The only problem at night is that someone with a light source is a easy target for anyone with a gun. So i think night should be darker that anyone need to use lights even the campers.

[frosti 2165]

Then it should be realistic for EVERYONE... I was in an experimental server last night and it was pitch black, but I had other players around me saying "I can see you" and it was only until I turned my flashlight on that I saw them - and they weren't that close to me.  If adjusting brightness, graphic, gamma settings gives someone an advantage at night, it's defeats the point of "realism". 

 

You got trolled son.

 

They could see you for a moment when you were very clsoe to them, they could spot your cahracter on night sky contrast or something, and they classic trolled you with " I can seee you".

 

If you would run away from them and blend with some background then they can not see you.

 

Gamma exploit is fixed on experimental servers.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Frosti

[jprime84 22]

Of course the night is dark lol. Have you ever been to a rural area without so much as a streetlamp for at least 5 miles in any direction? Try it, you wont be able to see your hand in front of your face, unless you hold it up to the sky and see the outline against the slightly brighter sky. You wont be able to see the floor, or whats on it, not even the path that you are trying to follow.

 

Most people live in built up areas, or within a less than a mile from some form of light pollution. I remember an old episode of the X files, where they are in some woods miles from the town. Mulder turns to Scully and says, "you know what....living in the city so long i had forgotten how.....dark....night is". Me and my missus laughed because we had the same feeling when we climbed a mountain for new years. Thats something that has become tradition....and we never leave without a headtorch each, and a backup in our bags lol :)

 

 

This just is not true.  In fact, it can be easier to see at night when there are no sources of artificial light.  Your eyes very slowly can adjust to the light from the stars and moon, and you should have some visibility in wooded areas, and decent visibility in open areas.  This would vary depending on cloud cover and the moon cycle, of course.  I hiked in Peru in the evening on a clear night and I could easily find my way along the trail without any additional lights on.

 

Colors will be next to impossible to distinguish, and going indoors (removing the natural light) should make it basically pitch black.  Also, if you are next to a campfire or flashlight it should ruin your night vision as well since it takes your eyes time to adjust back.

[blacklabel79 949]

Played on a server that went from sundown into complete darkness with 4 people. 3 of them had lightsources. ( not me iam a retard and threw my light away at spawn, tho i got the only axe we had so that was fine... ) ) . It was NO PROBLEM at all. One dude even got the gaslamp to work. Just keep in mind that only "new ones" work and not something you had stored in your backpack prior to logon ;)

 

 

I never did that before and it was a fucking scary and awesome experience.

Edited January 22, 2014 by {Core}BlackLabel

[infammo 15]

The pitch black nature of the Chernaurus night is perfectly realistic for the first five minutes in darkness when walking out of the light. The problem is that it does not account for eye-adaption.

With no light pollution and no clouds. (Clouds that we disable for improved performance anyway.) The milky way is a bloody light-show.

After thirty minutes you can see the ground just fine in grey, hazy highlights. As long as you are not inside somewhere or in a forest where the trees obscure the stars.

If you looked up after 30 minutes with that level of light-pollution, you would see a beautiful array of colours and stars you have never been able to see before. Which is why the night should not be nearly as dark, with the exception of overcast conditions.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Felandi

[BHBDeano 18]

have some great memories of the mod playing in pitch black trying to raid NWAF with only 2 guys using torches to light up the way and locate the zeds for the guys with silenced guns to take out, only problem was you couldn't run with torch held up so if a zed would attack the torch guy and they lost their nerve and ran it would go pitch black again causing mayhem. next time we made sure we had plenty of chem lights/flares.

[victusmortuus 1074]

I think the realism argument is only thrown around when it suits people. Dayz isn't realistic, not even close.

[Tyrael75 (DayZ) 21]

So I tend to play in "always daytime" servers, because I find night time to be unplayable in this game. The screen is pitch-black and you can see practically nothing. Raising the Gamma or the Brightness does little to help, and honestly shouldn't be necessary in a game with good visibility. Dayz Standalone is supposed to be realistic, and IRL it is not NEARLY so dark at night.

 

Night time should be interesting to play and add a new dynamic to the game, however currently it is just worthless. Add to that the fact that the flashlight doesn't seem to work (yes it has a full battery).

 

And has anyone else noticed that 90% of the servers are the same? Like they are always all in the same time of day? Presumably this is because those servers are in a time-zone where it is night, but really, I'm in California, and if I want to play during the day in-game and it's day-time in America, apparently I can't unless I choose a custom server. Seems kinda dumb.

 

Tell me what you think in the comments! Should graphics/visuals/visibility be improved for the night? And should servers display what time-zone they are so you aren't going in blind?

 

Thanks!

Yes realistically night time isn't pitch black unless there's a lunar eclipse. As for almost every server being night, Bohemia implemented a system into the engine that takes the real world time based on where the server is in, say if its in NY state it would be 4:31 pm right now. So server times are based on realistic times. It's like in Vanilla WoW blizzard had a system that litterally took the weather based on YOUR location and it would project that into your game (no one else can see it except for you unless they have the same weather as you do)

[Defalus 8]

Hey mate,

 

The night is pitch black in real life as well. The only difference which makes you think it is not are the big lights on the streets which wouldnt be working in a zombie apocalypse.

 

Use a flash light .

Edited January 22, 2014 by Defalus

[Jazellija 3]

The pitch black nature of the Chernaurus night is perfectly realistic for the first five minutes in darkness when walking out of the light. The problem is that it does not account for eye-adaption.

With no light pollution and no clouds. (Clouds that we disable for improved performance anyway.) The milky way is a bloody light-show.

After thirty minutes you can see the ground just fine in grey, hazy highlights. As long as you are not inside somewhere or in a forest where the trees obscure the stars.

If you looked up after 30 minutes with that level of light-pollution, you would see a beautiful array of colours and stars you have never been able to see before. Which is why the night should not be nearly as dark, with the exception of overcast conditions.

 

I totally agree with Felandi that after 30-50 minutes a human will adjust to dark conditions.  Personally, I am able to barely navigate my house when its dark but if I wake up late at night I can generally avoid furnature well enough to get by unless I turn on a light source or open the fridge.  I wouldn't want to go stumbling through a forest but in open fields and if it isn't overcast or a new moon we should be able to get by.

 

In regards to DayZ I know that about an hour before dawn the light level starts rising so you can see most things ok but no colours.  The devs are already using graphics to show our blood and health so why not have it automatically adjust our Gamma/brightness over time when we're away from light sources. 

 

I use the following as an example: 

I have just been scavenging in Cherno with my flashlight so I can see things only in my light cone but hear some shots so it's time to run.  I keep my flashlight on till I get to the edge of town and the flashlight goes off and I start leggng to the trees. 

My light adjustment would start at zero so I can only see the stars/tree line (current night)  but as I reach the tree line and look back at town I can just make out the shapes of the buildings and roads.(low adjustment)  I had my bearing for where I wanted to go and it's a good 10-15 minute trudge through the forest.  I start off occasionally bumping into trees but as time goes by I'm able to make them out better so make better time.  Medium adjustment

When I reach the tree line for where I was going, lets say an Airfield for ease, I'm at full adjustment (It would be similar to the dawn lighting or having Gamma up) so I can see the silhouette of a few zombies and a person with a weapon flashlight on.  I make my way towards the person as quietly as I can but he manages to hear me as I reach a bush and spins around aiming his flashlight in my direction for 10-15 seconds looking for me, but can't see me and continues on. Of course that was like staring into a floodlight for me and I'm momentarily blinded for a minute or two as I blink furiously trying to get the after images out of my eyes (temporarily loss of adjustment). 

After the person has left, I know this since my adjustment came back as he was leaving, I am able to start scavenging myself.  I head into the barracks and pop my flashlight out but since it's not pointing at me it doesn't have the dazzling effect and over the next few minutes my adjustment goes to zero and I have to start the whole process over again. 

 

That's my take on what would be a good way of implementing it.  It makes getting places and the trackless wilds easier without a reveiling lightsource and also allows for people to be stealthy when they want to avoid attention. 

I have no idea how difficult it would be to implement but hey, being part of the process is why we all brought the game anyway. right?

 

Edit: Spelling

Edited January 22, 2014 by Jazellija

[Space Milk 195]

Hey mate,

 

The night is pitch black in real life as well. The only difference which makes you think it is not are the big lights on the streets which wouldnt be working in a zombie apocalypse.

 

Use a flash light .

No it isn't.

People are saying it is like pitch black.

Apparently no one saying this has ever been in a micro light pollution or zero light pollution area during night.

Your eyes dilate so much to adjust, that a match looks like a flare from 8 miles away.

[workthis 0]

Maybe if some of you get off your fat asses and go hiking you'll realize the darkness isn't "unrealistic". 

[Defalus 8]

Also a good tip which will help a lot is disabling clouds .

[Space Milk 195]

Maybe if some of you get off your fat asses and go hiking you'll realize the darkness isn't "unrealistic".

In the woods it would be dark as it is now.

In the open after full dilation it wouldn't be like walking blindfolded.

[irl-calibre 744]

nice sunset tonight.. they come at night... mostly..

 

[Irenicus (DayZ) 289]

In a game based off realism, i don't have a problem with the low visibility of night time.

Yeah except it's not THAT realistic. It's not like I've never spent time outside in the dark. I have done a LOT of travelling, on foot in the middle of nowhere with no lights and no moon. It's very dark yes, but however, your eyes adapt after a while and you can eventually see quite decently. It isn't that bad in DayZ but it could be better. I would rather Gamma be hardlocked (ppl say nvidia cpl would override that, but there are certain games which have found a way around this) but slightly more adaptive so you see better over time up to a point.