Civilians - Stay calm and read first!

[melancholymastermind 33]

Now don't go all Kill Bill on me right away!

 

This is more of a musing than a suggestion, I am certainly not saying this SHOULD be in the game :p

 

 

 

One of the things that I feel is really missing from DayZ when you compare it to zombie apocalypse shows and movies is "useless" survivors.  There are always a few of them.  They don't really bring anything to the team, they cant shoot worth a damn, run from melee combat and are honestly a burden on the wily hero's.  For the less honourable folk they are both cannon fodder for a bit of amusement and bait for luring in would be heroes.

 

 

 

But the question is how could you get this into the game obviously no player is going to want to play some useless survivor so AI is the only answer.

 

AI being my thing I came up with this idea (we are talking much later in development, when zombie ai is more complete, and path finding and all that is more robust) :

 

Sacrifice say 10-20% of the maximum zombie count for civilians or some modifiable server value

 

Civ's have a small chance to spawn somewhere on the map that is without players

Civ's don't die/interact unless a player is near enough (it would be too process intensive). movement all the time would be good though. Especially grouping

A Civ looks just like any other player from a distance (perhaps up close you could tell)

A Player can "befriend" a Civ or take one hostage

A Player can give a "befriended" Civ simple orders like wait/follow and perhaps hold fire

Civ's start with just clothes

Civ's will run from gunfire/zombies

Civ's hide inside buildings

 

If you "befriend" a Civ he/she will follow you around. kind of like a pet.  If they see another player they run and tell you, same with zombies/loot.

The longer a Civ stays alive as your friend the better gear they get. Although they do not actually take loot from the game world.  Never anything higher than say a pistol, and they would suck with it.

Taking a Civ to some location or end-game type mission would give you some benefit (cant think of what other than loot at this stage)

They are a burden and would be more likely to alert zombies, or cause another player to see your group.  The price of having them along.

 

Im not talking about having hundreds of Civ's running around, perhaps based on player count.  Their presence would change a lot about the way you approach (apparent) players. 

1 player with 3 Civ's in toe from the distance may seem like a full player group for example, and a group with many Civ's would be intimidating (or too good to resist)!

An additional benefit from having them around is that from time to time they give you something, like a bandage or water or food.  If you get hurt they will try and heal you with what you have in your pack, this could happen at a slower rate and be easily interrupted.

After keeping a Civ alive for a long period of time (along with yourself) they could upgrade themselves to the point where they actually have a pistol.  They will cover you and shoot (terribly and slowly) at anyone shooting at them.

 

If you kill a Civ they die just like a player and can be looted.  They would have clothes and 1 weapon and perhaps a few throwaways. With older Civ's having more (but not substantial by any means) stuff.

 

They could even upgrade over time without a player around, so that some Civ far out north might get upgraded enough to have a pistol.  You could find him fighting zombies, or hold up in a house.

 

 

If done right they could not only be helpful, but also add a lot into end-game and interaction. The apparent number of survivors would go up and the chances of coming across another survivor across the map would increase.  Additional suspense would be added with increased encounters (especially if a Civ looks identical to a player unless your right in their face).  

You could have players defending a Civ camp (constructed by players) that you can bring Civ's to for a reward.  One of the Civ's in such a camp could become a trader for between players if the camp got big enough.  Bandits could kill everyone in the camp including the trader so others would need to protect it.  A boat could come to the south coast and take Civ's away.  All manner of ideas come to mind.

 

 

So yeah, I know its not really DayZ but it was an idea and I thought I would share :)

 

Most of you will probably not like the idea, and that's fine.  just keep calm when you tell me.

 

[Beck (DayZ) 1768]

I don't like the idea of them adding any AI other than zombies. The whole point of DayZ is to have player-player interaction, and the human AI will be a waste of server space.

[King of kong 1117]

I would like human slaves to distract Zombies and open canned food for me. And not speak english and be really stupid. They only say "yarp" as a response to my orders.

[BelMarduk 169]

ummmm no. I mean, kudos for the thought and the read, but AI (beyond the infected, and whatever animals) should not be in this game. If you think about it, this game community already does have all the Dale's and the Shane's, and the mayor's and the well all different people you find from the movies/tv shows. Find a fresh spawn that just clocked his first 15 minutes in the game, talk him into following you, and you have your bad shot, no skill, lost, 'character' fumbling around out in the open... no offense, take it for what Im saying all you new players :blush:  ;) 

 

The problem with an AI 'friend' is the AI would be so 'limited' in its AI it would always be more of a hindrance than a use. AI buddies work in other games, because most other games are so canned (not sandbox) that the AI can be programmed to be limited to the things in the canned world. Far too much 'openness' in the game, and far to much limit to what AI can do to even be 'worth it'...

just my two cents.

[melancholymastermind 33]

I understand what you mean completely.  In todays age their are new AI methods that are just not seen in games at the moment.  DayZ is one of those rare games where its sort of by an AAA company but at the same time its by an Indie guy.  With such a long development cycle no doubt they will attempt some aspects of the game in multiple ways before its done to see what's best. 

 

Regardless of Civilian or buddy's being in the game or not, I hope they try something more engaging considering the world size even with Zombie AI (see my adaptive AI thread for example)

 

When I say Civ's I'm talking about the residents of Woodbury in The Walking Dead that were just extras.  How many people lived there again?  I cant remember. (I haven't seen the latest season so if they turned out to be psycho's or something sorry)

The Civ's I see in a game like this would only run and hide in a firefight and maybe fight 1 zombie.  Quickly finding a local safe spot to be not seen by players (unless "friended")

The ability to accurate and quickly find local positions that are clear of player view cones would be key to any form of success. They would need to be good and reliable and getting out of the way.   Its not like the map is small. They could hide in a building 2 blocks away or lie down on the other side of hill.

The idea is that if you choose to allow one (or more) to accompany you, the risk of them revealing you or aggro'ing zombies is the balance of the reward of having them assist with healing or giving you food/water when you are desperate. Plus whatever end-game goals are cooked up

Giving an order to a Civ to search a building while you search another would speed up looting but increase the risk of them agrro'ing zombies or alerting players.

They could assist with carrying gear say if you give them a backpack.

A guy/girl with military gear and/or a rifle would of course always be a player. Civ's would never get loot like that as then you might feel like relying on them :P

 

Of course if anything like this became a part of DayZ which I don't see happening it should be server side controlled with the option to add a set number if desired.   Maybe Modding will be robust enough for me to make such a thing later?

Edited January 15, 2014 by TemplarGFX

[thedogfoodyayho 295]

I like it. It adds another thing to do in-game, and besides the traders/camps of them, its a pretty thought out idea.

 

It won't make it into the official game though.