Action/Spectator Mode

[Turmarit 0]

So when running around aimlessly in Cheranus the other day I found myself wanting a little bit of action and I wondered how I easiest would get into some action.

Being far up north I realized that running would take me about 45 mins to get to the more populated areas and I would probably need to spend even more time scavenging for supplies on my way down (yes I'm a cynical, I.E I shoot on people with big guns and let people without guns run free since they can't fight back in the same way).

So my mind started working, I realized that a spectator mode for public servers would never work even though you work with "delay" since people would abuse it and start "hunting" groups because they would easily identify where people were.
As a avid dayz/arma II player I did remember that there was a map named something like "the shooting range/gallery".

This map had the functionality that you had a bullet trajectory cam to better see how the gun and the bullet "worked".
My suggestion and I want feedback on it (please constructive feedback not just "no, don't want") is that you have server functionality where you save snaps-"shots" of fired bullets for a couple of mins that a spectator might see being fired.
 

How to solve the main concerns that people I've spoken with:

Q: Wouldn't it be easy to identify where people are?
A: No, if we save the shot to a data file we theoretically could pick a random shot from any time and send to the spectators client and he wouldn't know if the shot was fired 5, 15 or 50 mins ago, the shots from a rifle travel (generalization) with the muzzle velocity of around 650 m/s to around 900 m/s, with the lowest speed you'll travel about 1,3 km (about 0,8 miles) in the first 2 secs of the shot making it nearly impossible to pinpoint where the shot came from.
Pistols do have a slower muzzle velocity yes, but they also have a shorter trajectory and rarely travel farther than 200 m, meaning that the shot will dive into the ground in under a second.

Q: Wouldn't it be a lot of data for the server?
A: Not really, what we theoretically would need to know is what gun fired the bullet so that we can fetch the data about the gun from the client it self (the trajectory should be evaluated on the client not the server), where the shot was fired from (x, y and z coords) where it landed (same coords) and if it hit something and what that looked like (I guess that all models are saved as integers in the database so it would be one for race, sex, and then several more for different clothing).
It would of course require a little bit more server power and bandwidth but at the same time I feel like this would be a optional option when you set up your server as well. 
a wild guess would be that if you sent it as JSON it wouldn't surpass an object over 150 characters at least, but I've never studied the data sent to and from a Arma server so don't quote me.

 

Is this a good or a bad idea?
What's your thoughts about it?
Do you see any complications with it?
Is it too much of a CoD/Battlefield function or would it be cool?
Would you use it?

[creature 1189]

No.

 

Zombie survival sim.

 

There are no magic "cams" irl.

[Turmarit 0]

No.

 

Zombie survival sim.

 

There are no magic "cams" irl.

There's no aim dot or 3rd person perspective IRL either, so what your point?

Not to get overly defensive here but I asked for constructive feedback and criticism and especially not "No" comments, could you at least elaborate your answer and tell me why you think it's a bad idea?

If you want realism there are already hardcore servers for more realism.

[HellSnake 26]

There's no aim dot or 3rd person perspective IRL either, so what your point?

Not to get overly defensive here but I asked for constructive feedback and criticism and especially not "No" comments, could you at least elaborate your answer and tell me why you think it's a bad idea?

If you want realism there are already hardcore servers for more realism.

 

That's why a lot of people want 3rd person and crosshairs to be removed. They are not realistic. But they are there for a reason, though. They have a purpose. The crosshairs allow to pick up hard to reach items that don't show in the vecinity part of the inventory, which would be difficult to do without exactly knowing where the center of the screen is. And 3rd person allows for a more pleasant movement, although it can be used to cheat. I personally prefer 3rd person to be removed, and mainly play at hardcore servers.

 

But your suggestion completely breaks inmersion and it just doesn't belong to a game that tries to be a sim / authentic / realistic. It serves no purpose other than magically see shots fired when you're bored.

I hope that was constructive enough.

EDIT: Typos were made.

Edited February 1, 2014 by HellSnake