In-menu Beginner's Guide

[Rōnin Rick 98]

So I am new to the DayZ community, and hadn't played an ARMA game before (console peasant, sorry).

 

I LOVE the concept of DayZ Standalone, and truly enjoy the realism it offers; I've grown weary of the Call of Honor: Gears of Battlefield games that pervade console gaming.

 

However, being an ARMA/DayZ noob, I do not yet fully understand all the in-game mechanics, many of which seem almost intentionally obscure/obtuse/opaque. A perfect example of this is the healing mechanic. Apparently if you are injured and your screen is desaturated (gray), to get healthy again, you must do the following: Stop the bleeding with a rag or bandage, disinfect the wound/rag with alcohol (there is no in-game notification that your wounds are septic, btw), eat and drink until your character is neither hungry nor thirsty AND you see the 'my stomach is really full' notification, and wait at least 20 minutes for your health to begin regenerating.

 

Is all of that intuitive? If I pick up the game and begin playing, am I reasonably expected to figure that out on my own? If I weren't so dead-set on learning this game and getting good at it, I would not care to play or purchase it, and the goal for developers should be to attract both old AND new players to their game/franchise.

 

 

I feel that a guide in the menu (you'd have a tab for 'play', 'configure', 'find server', 'customize character', AND 'beginner's guide') would help tremendously. It would provide all the basic information regarding the game mechanics. How statuses work, i.e. hunger, thirst, blood, sickness; How the zombie A.I. works, i.e. how you are detected and how to lose pursuing zombies; How to determine direction and time of day using the sun and shadows; What type of loot can typically be found in which locations; How to craft, i.e. tearing shirts into rags, loading weapons, using blood/saline bags, etc.

 

All of these could be explained in a very simple menu that newer players could look at, and IT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED RIGHT NOW, even in this early alpha state.

 

We could have a beginner's guide, and also perhaps an up-to-date update/patch notes so we can read right there in the in-game menu what changes have been made and bugs fixed recently. Would be great!

 

If you support this, let me know. Discuss in the comments section and maybe this can be implemented. I'm very excited about this game and would love to see it succeed highly!

 

Thanks!

Edited January 13, 2014 by Rōnin Rick