Environmental flags to show player activity

[tmanz 5]

Would like to see realtime flags of player activity:

 

1. Long range - Flocks of birds going in flight in response to a nearby player

2. Some doors/gates are not silent when opening

 

In addition to open doors the following 'lasting' signs could be good to have in the game to indicate player activity:

 

1. Foot trails through hills, muddy areas

2. Bent long grass in fields

3. Freshly tracked dirt in buildings

 

Lasting means the effect of the above subsides after a certain time but is still noticeable to a trained eye. Of course opened doors or moved objects stay as is or until server reset.

Edited May 15, 2014 by tmanz

[enforcer1975 1111]

Would be nice but every bit of info would add a load of traffic between client and server. Syncing every bullet casing and footstep to everbody who joins would be a pain in the...and the surface of the map can't be reshaped like if you left trails in mud with the wheels of your car.

[tmanz 5]

Understand the challenges, by the time Dayz SA is final hopefully the infrastructure will be adequate. 

 

Surely grass can be moved from is original position with a slow bounce back time and instead of reshaping put a layer on top of a surface.

 

I'm not a game dev, just throwing out ideas :)

Edited May 15, 2014 by tmanz

[ibfg 0]

I love the idea of the birds - its one of those elements that would both add hugely to the environment and the sense of immersion, but also have a really important gameplay element to it too!

[nexventor 429]

I love the idea being able to "track" someone but I am just not sure how it could be implemented. Your first 2 suggestions have been discussed and are very plausible, your next two, while being good ideas I am just not sure the servers could handle it. Especially when  we get to 100+ people. Your last one is very interesting, I like it.

[enforcer1975 1111]

Birds would be the only clue that players will be attracted to imo, it should obviously not only be with players but with everything that disturbs them of course ( player, zed, other animals, scared to shit for the lolz or just because they want to fly )

Minor details like left brass or footprints are hard to find even if you look for them and with all players running around like Usain Bolt not looking left or right and fixated at their avatars rear end because they find it arousing most won't even see a player standing still next to a bush without camo or mismatching camo to the background...

Edited May 15, 2014 by Enforcer