Blaaaaaaag 75 Posted January 25, 2014 The biggest problem with nighttime, as I see it, is that none of you seem to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I do. Same goes for hardcore mode. Consequently, hardcore servers that are set at nighttime are empty ghost towns, with such a low chance for any real interaction or drama. Nighttime is great if you want the zeds to actually be a problem. You can't just punch them in the head and be on your way when you can't see them. Even when you find an axe, your options then become either 1) shine your light on the zombie, and see where he is, but be unable to do anything about that, or 2) have your axe out and fight the zombie that you can't see. Realistically, you either wind up just running away from most of them, or kite them to somewhere that you can make out their silhouette, or near those faint little streetlamp things that are dotted around the land (near barracks' in particular, if you don't know what I'm talking about), so that you can see them *just* well enough to axe them down. The very first thing I did after dl'ing the latest patch was join a hardcore server. I found one where my ping was ~30 and the population was around 20/40. (I haven't seen one anywhere near that full since patch day, sadly) This server turned out to be pitch black, but I didn't care. I'm a man, after all. My pubes have pubes. I can deal with this. All I can see upon spawning in is a distant treeline on a hill, silhouetted against the night sky, and a shadowy tree shape a little closer to me. Past this near tree is clearly the coast road, and sitting upon it, dead still, is a flashlight that is turned on. I pause for a moment to consider my options, and the fate (or possible nefarious plans?) of whoever owned that light, and decide that I should sprint inland, ignoring all the coastal towns that will no doubt have been looted clean by now. So I run, toward the treeline and up the hill. I've gone maybe half a mile, and I've got zombie aggro. I have nothing but my fists and my flashlight. I'm in an open field, I can tell that much, but I can't see the zombie that's after me, not at all. So I keep running. Eventually, it's groaning dissipates, and I reckon I'm away from it. By now I'm pretty thirsty, and decide I need to make finding a water pump a priority. A little ways in the distance, I can *just* make out a house. I approach it slowly to check it out, use my light sparingly to determine that there is indeed no water pump in the yard. Inside I find an orange striped shirt and a toque. Great. Onward then. Sometime while I'm running, I hear the sound of my footsteps change. I'm on a road. I shine my light to see where it goes. I pick the direction that feels most like it continues on the way I've been going, but face the side of the road while turning my light off so that if anyone saw me, they might not guess which direction I set off in. Using a flashlight makes me brilliantly paranoid. Down the road I go, Westward, in the inky blackness. A little later, I find myself at a small village. I can see a road sign, so I make my way up to it and shine my light on it. It says Chernogorsk is 3km down the left fork, and Vishnoye 1km to the right. I barely parse this information before I hear the groaning again... time to sprint! I leg it up a hill and do a wide circle back. I figure that I must be in Mogilevka, and I know there's a water pump there, so I'm desperate to find a few moments of peace to make use of it. 5 minutes or so later, I've lost the zombie in the hills on the edge of town, and I'm sneaking back to that water pump. On my way back down into the town, I take note of how many zombies are still loitering around, making sure I'm ready to run like hell at a moments notice. I drink my fill at the pump, then check out a few nearby houses. I've now got myself a backpack, a few food items, a hacksaw, and some other odds and ends. And then a head torch. Hell yeah, I think. This is actually a seriously useful item now. In the land of eternal blackness, the man with the head torch is king! Groaning again. some zombies have figured out where I am, time to go. As I'm running out of town, it occurs to me that I've got a bit turned around since seeing that last road sign. I look to the sky, and see the big dipper more or less directly overhead. I spin myself around until I'm lined up to see the North star, and off I go. I know where I'm headed, Vishnoye, then the new military base south of the NW airfield, then the airfield itself. Hopefully. If I live long enough. In Vishnoye I manage to find myself a fire axe. Between that and my headtorch, I'm now starting to get a little bit comfortable. It took me 45 minutes or so, but I finally have the tools to take on a zombie in the dark. It's still something I want to avoid doing, I'm not interested in telling all the other players on the map where I am, so naturally I keep the light off whenever I don't need it. For a good few hours, my heart was beating a little faster than usual, despite no actual drama coming about. Eventually I made it to the NW airfield, and got to loot it in the dark, with only zombies as company. Being alone at the NW airfield in the pitch black is it's own sort of scary and intense, as you can never be sure you're really alone, or that someone isn't about to log in close by. And if someone's across the runway lining up your running silhouette in their mosin's scope, you're not going to see them. Now though, I'm in a situation where I'm near to Lopatino, I have an M4 with a light on it, a 45 with a light on it, plenty of ammo, food, etc. Zombies were a serious threat before I made it up that far, now though, I can take them on easily. And since humans tend to avoid hardcore in the dark, I guess I win? I dunno, kinda wish someone would show up and give me a scare, maybe shoot me and send me back to the coast so I can do it again. I enjoyed that little midnight expedition more than anything else I've experienced since picking up SA a couple weeks ago. I was afraid for my life every step of the way. It was fantastic. So can we get a little love for nightime, please? 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hogscraper 328 Posted January 25, 2014 Dayz SA brings out the murderer in enough people that I personally don't care to play at night where anyone can camp a dark corner and end the game for me. I like to at least have a chance at seeing the guy who's playing for no reason other than killing other players. I don't dislike the dark in the mod, but so far in SA, all of my deaths at night but one came from people who had their gamma to the max and could see me when I couldn't see them. The last one was the last I intend on having at night. I'm sitting in a corner waiting for a friend to log in, its pitch black and I can't even see the other friend I'm running with, who is maybe ten feet away. Two hundred or so yards away I see the flash of a gun in complete darkness as I died. Night is more exciting, but I willingly give up that little bit of extra heart pounding fun to also give up the lesser ability to survive based on my own ability. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atomizer 53 Posted January 25, 2014 As far as I have experienced, night time servers suffered from the same population drop in the mod as it does in SA, the real problem with night in SA is the fact it is unfinished, there is no shadow shader for night time yet(this is why the flashlight shines straight through walls), and there needs to be more lighting options, chemlights, flares etc.The final thing, is when night is meant to be pitch black, they need to make sure there is no visible detail in the darkness, it needs to be flat black, this will mean no amount of gamma adjusting will let you see, the only time you will be able to see, is when using a light source.Unfortunately, even if they remove in game brightness/gamma controls, people can still adjust their gamma in their drivers or their monitor, and by removing the in game controls, some people will have a harder time then others, my monitor for example is darker then others, I usually have to set my brightness/gamma higher to even get the same level of visibility.One thing they need to do though, and is fixable, is the effect clouds have on brightness, if you turn clouds off, it becomes much darker, turn them on, and it becomes much brighter, and I am talking about the difference between pitch black and being able to see clearly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deathlove 2286 Posted January 25, 2014 Just turn up your gamma problem solved. I can see every zombie on the screen without having to shine a light once. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Happy- 41 Posted January 25, 2014 Just turn up your gamma problem solved. I can see every zombie on the screen without having to shine a light once.kinda missing the point of playing on a server with normal daytime/nighttime cycle if you do that tho but out of curiosity since i heard they patched that i went to a night server and tried that. nothing changed. still darker then hell. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deathlove 2286 Posted January 25, 2014 kinda missing the point of playing on a server with normal daytime/nighttime cycle if you do that tho but out of curiosity since i heard they patched that i went to a night server and tried that. nothing changed. still darker then hell.I dont know i can still turn up the gama and see everything so i must be doing something right lol. Also i wouldnt play this game if they forced players to play in the dark without some kind of settings adjustments. I dont feel like playing in the dark all freaking day long no matter how realistic ppl want it to be. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
weedmasta 784 Posted January 25, 2014 (edited) No, the biggest problem with night time is the gamma glitch. I would love to play at night but when there are people who can see me "crystal clear" while I am scouring through complete darkness with a flashlight, it kind of defeats the purpose of it all. Edited January 25, 2014 by weedmasta 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atomizer 53 Posted January 25, 2014 No, the biggest problem with night time is the gamma glitch. I would love to play at night but when there are people who can see me "crystal clear" while I am scouring through complete darkness with a flashlight, it kind of defeats the purpose of it all.It is a problem, but until it is "fixed", you put yourself at a disadvantage if you don't use it, it is the same deal with third person servers, use it or you put yourself at a disadvantage, once they fix it then it will all be good.For the gamma issue though, unless they ensure the game is not showing any details when it is pitch black, people can still adjust their monitor/drivers to see better then others, the biggest issue is the fact clouds on/off makes a huge difference, that is what needs to be fixed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deathlove 2286 Posted January 25, 2014 It is a problem, but until it is "fixed", you put yourself at a disadvantage if you don't use it, it is the same deal with third person servers, use it or you put yourself at a disadvantage, once they fix it then it will all be good.For the gamma issue though, unless they ensure the game is not showing any details when it is pitch black, people can still adjust their monitor/drivers to see better then others, the biggest issue is the fact clouds on/off makes a huge difference, that is what needs to be fixed.I wouldnt consider third person an issue its a feature and its more than welcome with me. Im from the Resident Evil era after all of 3rd person. Its what really got me into zombie stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Atomizer 53 Posted January 25, 2014 I wouldnt consider third person an issue its a feature and its more than welcome with me. Im from the Resident Evil era after all of 3rd person. Its what really got me into zombie stuff.The issue is seeing around obstacles you shouldn't be able to see around, essentially, "seeing what should not be possible to see", just like the gamma issue.Resident Evil isn't in the same boat. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
irl-calibre 744 Posted January 25, 2014 this is my biggest problem with nighttime also really annoying that you can not assign a key to turning lights on and off & having to use the inventory instead.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nocturnal (DayZ) 85 Posted January 25, 2014 Worst thing about night time is the gamma exploit. You have to use it because otherwise your at a massive disadvantage - it would be like using 1st person only on a server that has third person enabled. And high gamma just makes night-time look like a colourless daytime, so I'll stick with daytime for now. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DeatHTaX 1217 Posted January 25, 2014 Once flashlights are tweaked and people aren't able to gamma exploit (I don't really have a solid opinion about it, I just prefer not to have ways to get around Night time being NIGHT lol) I think night time will become very appealing to a different kind of player. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blaaaaaaag 75 Posted January 25, 2014 Worst thing about night time is the gamma exploit. You have to use it because otherwise your at a massive disadvantage - it would be like using 1st person only on a server that has third person enabled. Haha, I do both those things, I play with my settings at default (well, other than rotation blur and head bob) and only play first person no matter what server I'm on. I guess I'm a bit of a nihilist, but then again, so is anyone who plays this game. I also play War Thunder's arcade battles in cockpit view using a joystick, because that's immersive and fun, despite the fact that you have a serious tactical advantage in 3rd person using a mouse. I dunno, I guess I just don't understand the head space of people who play this game and keep score. For me it's not at all about k/d's, or even survival, really, since it's all so temporary anyway. I want to have interesting experiences that make good stories. That can be tough when I'm the only one around:/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
