Combat Log

[mithrawndo 166]

I see many suggestions appearing for features like death camera, visual logs like "X entity killed Y player with Z object" and other immersion breaking suggestions. Most of us don't want to see this in game as we like what we think DayZ is trying to be... but they do make a valid point: We currently have absolutely no way of knowing what's happened in gameplay terms - even post mortem.

 

My suggestion therefore is the implementation of a text based combat log. This would be as simple as a .log file in your folder that is kept open (and hence cannot be opened by an external program!) for as long as dayz.exe is running. This log could record anything from your position on the map as and when this is confirmed by the server through what items you pick up and drop, when another player entered your "network bubble" and how/why you (or even other players) died.

 

The contents of this log are not particularly important; the purpose here is to provide some information to the end user without breaking the immersion of the game. I feel this is most easily achieved by having logged information inaccessible whilst the game is running, forcing the player to close the client before viewing their log.

 

 

Thoughts/queries/suggestions most welcome.

 

Edit: Because it took two posts to prove that people on fora behave just like those in reality; they don't listen, they just wait for their turn to speak.

 

TL;DR I would like to see a text log of what has happened to my character in the game, accessible only when dayz.exe is NOT running.

Edited March 30, 2014 by Mithrawndo

[AP_Norris 1018]

I wanna see a little bit extra info when I press P, like when a player is dead a skull and bones beside them or when they're logging off.

Maybe a name there that killed you, so we don't get popups but if we want/ need to know we can get it.

Maybe when you look at someone and press P it will highlight their name in the player list.

I would also like permanent names in DayZ eventually, so people can develop a name for themselves e.g good guy AP_Norris, bad guy shoot you in back Bambikiller007.

[applejaxc 2500]

I don't see the point in the log at all. Someone could join a server, tab out, sit and wait until it updates with "Player joined network bubble" then tab back in and shoot them. Rinse, repeat. There's also no point in having in-game combat logs; what difference does it make? If you killed a guy, he's dead. If you didn't, he isn't. That's the risk you take when you try to push up on a player you think you've hit. He could be unconscious, dead, or perfectly fine and you fuck yourself as soon as you run into the open. It's preposterous to suggest changing that in any way!

[mithrawndo 166]

I don't see the point in the log at all. Someone could join a server, tab out, sit and wait until it updates with "Player joined network bubble" then tab back in and shoot them. Rinse, repeat. There's also no point in having in-game combat logs; what difference does it make? If you killed a guy, he's dead. If you didn't, he isn't. That's the risk you take when you try to push up on a player you think you've hit. He could be unconscious, dead, or perfectly fine and you fuck yourself as soon as you run into the open. It's preposterous to suggest changing that in any way!

 

Original post edited to add the clearly required a TL;DR. I very specifically mentioned that if we were to have any kind of logging, that logging must be inaccessible whilst the game is running: This would mean you must completely close the game before you are able to view the contents of the log, rendering your complaint invalid - which isn't strictly necessary, as your complaint is actually a logical fallacy.

 

I'm inclined to agree on the front of in-game logging and information on the player pane, as I enjoy the lack of information the UI offers me. However without access to the logs ourselves, inevitably we the playerbase will simply find a way to "sniff" what information our client receives, and this creates an arms race that the developers surely do not want...

 

Hey, if I'm playing the logical fallacy card surely I'm allowed to use them too? :D

[mithrawndo 166]

No further comments? I for one would love to be able to find out why I died when trying to walk through a doorway after neither seeing nor hearing threats - as long as the immersive element is not lost!

[akafugitive 244]

I think logs should be left to server admins, less is more in my opinion when I am playing the game. I am one who picked this game out of all others because I want to see a gritty survival post apocalyptic survival game.

 

I don't want to know I have killed someone without confirming the body.

I want to struggle to keep myself healthy/fed/hydrated.

I want seeing another person, hearing a gunshot or groaning zombies in the dark cause my heart to pound.

I want to see communities form and trade with others or battle each other for supplies.

I want to figure out what I can make, fix cars, and treat injuries/illness, etc. through trial, error and experience(not with hand holding).

Edited April 2, 2014 by akafugitive

[mithrawndo 166]

Leaving logs only available to server admins (which might I add I am, and the logs there aren't terribly useful either!) leaves the possibility of admin abuse open: By also logging information pertinent to the client on the local side it becomes easier tracking down bugs, glitches and cheats. Take the following scenario:

 

• You join Server A
• You get kicked from Server A for no reason
• You petition for the server to be taken down
• Server A's admin declares you were cheating, and provides a falsified log to prove it
• You're up a well known creek without a paddle.

 

With local logs, you at least have some form of corroborating evidence you can provide when in this situation. Presently, we have nothing - and to me that's absolute madness!

 

Without logging, you can be damn sure that people will be data mining wherever possible to find whatever information they can to give them an advantage. You can cry about that until you're blue in the face, but people will still do it - better surely to head it off at the pass and level the playing field so that (as long as the client is NOT running) we can all have access to this technical information?
 

[BeefBacon 1185]

I can see the benefits of this. I also find it hilarious when people don't read the OP and then comment anyway.

 

I'd quite like to see a log like this, but it might be best not to have player names included or, if they are included, have it as a player ID that is only identifiable by some central server, so a log might look like:

 

player_1026 killed "mrnoob69" (you) with weapon_mosin at (coordinates, near cherno) at 12:31:22 (<time)

 

player_1026 killed player_989 with weapon_mosin at (coordinates, near cherno) at 12:32:06 (<time)

 

player_1026 killed player_1123 with weapon_mosin at (coordinates, near NWAF) at 12:33:32 (<time)

 

From this log you don't know who player_1026 is, but you know you were killed by a player with a Mosin. You can also suspect that he's hacking because he went from Cherno to NWAF in under two minutes, indicating that he's teleporting or something. You could then report player_1026 to an admin who would look into the matter and determine if that player is indeed hacking.

 

Obviously this could be abused by admins who could just ban whoever kills them, but there'll always be admins who abuse their power.

 

 

A system like this would let players know how they died, and would also help to identify hackers, at least in some circumstances. Obviously I've not detailed all of the information that would be in the log, but it's something. If players don't get a log like this I certainly think that server admins should.

Edited April 3, 2014 by BeefBacon