FRIEND/FOE IDENTIFCATION

[RavenousDead 5]

It's necessary that, when travelling with a group, we can identify our friends from foes.

 

I don't know how many times a bandit, wearing something similar to one of my team members, managed to log in or something in the same building we're located in; and ruin everything. It can be as simple as providing armbands for clans, or an icon above their heads, etc. All we need to do is identify our team mates, no one else. It's frustrating to constantly have to be like "Is that one of us? IS that you? Shit, is that a tango?" in every situation. 

[scriptfactory 620]

I agree. The game hasn't even tried to implement a realistic method of player identification. Rocket did say, however, that he would be adding party/faction identification at some point.

 

I just hope he realizes that visual confirmation of a friend/foe is something that is needed on an individual level and not just the party level. If that means "breaking immersion" and showing name tags then so be it. It is not realistic or authentic to have to identify your squadmates via chat. It is not realistic or authentic that to have to identify your squadmates by their clothing.

Edited May 22, 2014 by scriptfactory

[ghasteater100 5]

Not an Icon, but some sort of band or item of clothing we can all wear!

[haknslash 763]

It's not authentic or realistic to have a big neon sign over my head with my character name either though. Most of us here treat this game like IRL in the sense that I don't walk around in public with a nametag on my chest anymore than you do. I like the fact I have to check the pulse to find out who you are, sort of like checking your wallet for your ID.

If they want to add a buddy system, similar to say Arma3 Breaking Point mod, where you have a chevron over your head to identify your 'buddies' in-game then I'm ok with that. I just don't want to see any 3D nametags over anyones head as 1) it looks stupid and kills immersion 2) it doesn't allow you to hide from anyone because there's this big neon sign over your head that reads [RavenousDead] or whatever. This is not CoD or Battlefield when you have this HUD on top of you giving you all sorts of 'virtual information'.

I like not knowing if someone is friend or foe. I like it because it makes me nervous, makes me question myself, my surroundings, my actions and my options. Shit, my heart races and my hands sweat to be honest. Adding some form of indicator would instantly remove a large chunk of that immersive feeling! And who is to say you won't have trolls wearing 'friendly' arm bands yet kill you? It doesn't take long for me to find out the sort of player I'm dealing with based on their voice, actions and intentions. If someone sounds shady chances are they are shady. If you rush up to someone yelling "friendly, friendly don't shoot" chances are you will get shot simply because newspawns don't have anything to lose and will knock you out before you know it. A better means to approach someone who is armed would be to first assess the situation. When you think its safe to give away your positition then in a calm, clear, voice state you're around and ask if they need anything. If they don't say anything just leave while watching your back. If they sound friendly, then cautiously trade and who knows you might make a new friend.

I've found this is the best way to approach people without sounding like a scared newb but also stating they are not alone and in a voice they know you will stand your ground if need be. Be assertive but not an ass. But don't run up to people yelling "I'm new, hey friendly please don't shoot" because chances are they will put you down for acting like an idiot running up to someone armed. IRL you wouldn't run up to some stranger in camo clothing garnishing a high power firearm yelling "friendly or hey man are you a nice guy?". I would hope you would hang back, try to see what kind of person you're dealing with, and THEN make a logical decision whether it's safe to approach this person or not. I really think a lot of you would stand little to no chance if the world decided to turn to shit tomorrow because you think you need some sort of "indicator" or other crutch to tell you someone's intentions. Use your gut and your brain. It's best to treat each encounter cautiously because, well, you just never know just as life truly is.

As for colored articles of clothing, we already have that. There are press vests, UN helmets and police uniforms people can choose to wear that already signify 'neutral' or law abiding professions. Now obviously the community really doesn't give a shit if you're wearing a police uniform or the like because you could also be a cold-blooded killer that just so happens to like to wear police clothes, UN helmet, etc. Unless they add some sort of faction system, which I hope to god they don't, then I'm not on board with colored special arm bands or bandanas either.

TL;DR: I'm not in favor

Edited May 23, 2014 by haknslash

[scriptfactory 620]

It's not authentic or realistic to have a big neon sign over my head too with my character name either though. Most of us here treat this game like IRL in the sense that I don't walk around with a nametag on my chest anymore than you do. I like the fact I have to check the pulse to find out who you are, sort of like checking your wallet for your ID.

 

Without some form of realistic player identification DayZ will remain Mannequin Deathmatch Simulator 2015. I really hope they have given some thought to this.

[haknslash 763]

IIRC there are no nametags in the mod. How is identifying someone in 3D space "realistic"?

 

I imagine once mods become avialable after release, there will be someone who makes a buddy system or humanity system for those that want to play that way.

 

For me, I like it as real as I can get it :D

 

As for deathmatch, I've been playing since the release of alpha. I've yet to see this famous deathmatch ecept for on youtube. I guess because I know to stay the hell out of 'dangerous areas' just like I don't drive through the ghetto on the wayto pick up dinner for the wife and the kid IRL. If people would treat the map like it's one huge sandbox (like it is) and that it gives you areas of fighting, fishing, looting, relaxing, and so on all without having to go into a menu to change a 'game mode'. It's all there for you in one single large map but it's up to YOU to make solid decisions. Don't like the deathmatch then stay out of those areas and chances are you will run into like-minded people. Sometimes I feel froggy and have that itch I want to do battle and for that I would head towards those current hot spots of violence where corpses (loot) stack up. IDK, that just my .02 on the whole (enter latest city name) deathmatch topic comes up.

Edited May 22, 2014 by haknslash

[Evil Minion 943]

There is no friend/foe differentiation in DayZ and thats why friend/foe identification doesn't make any sense at all. Player identification on the other side does. I would like to see much more variety in character creation so you can use ones face to recognise him/her (and maybe even the body to some extend). Also a greater variety of civilian clothes (also military clothes but those are mainly for camouflage and not for identity) might help.

 

It would make much more sense to agree on some ingame clothing or hairstyle (if it was to be implemented) to identify buddies rather than having some artificial and unrealistic system.

 

Maybe add the ability to craft badges ingame and add them to your clothing so teams can have some additional information. However, in the end it should come down to your face (clothing can be stolen from people) - which also makes wearing a mask much more interesting.

[aMeiSe 12]

unrealistic. thats dayz, always be aware of where your teammates are, always have the right communication, to know every step your teammates do. thats the challenge to survive as a group

[Nesuma (DayZ) 108]

Did any of you guys just think of the possibilty to adjust your faces and character instead of just his ethnic background? Like you would recognize people normally? Because you see the face?
And as far as I know they already talked about personalizing your character more.


Edit: well i see it is already posted, sorry

Edited May 22, 2014 by Nesuma

[haknslash 763]

Now it would be cool if your face changed over time based off your actions. Like say you are a KOS'er (not saying you are but just an example lol) and if you kill a bunch of people maybe your face becomes rough and 'hardened' like you see most killers faces look. Maybe some scars like RDR lol. Then agian in order to see their faces that means youI gotta be in real close to see the features. At that distance I don't really think it's going to matter if the guy is friendly or not, you're options are severely limited at that point. Best to keep some distance before making contact with a stranger, at minimum keep a hard wall between you and him.

Edited May 22, 2014 by haknslash

[Evil Minion 943]

And what if I want to play a cute little psycho girl? Or a grim and hardened hero? Ted Bundy for example did not look very rough and hardened.

 

Your face should identify you and not your actions. Mostly at least: Getting hurt might result in scars, so someone who got into lots of fights might end up with lots of them. Maybe make medical treatment done by other players or with advanced equipment (that would be impractical to carry around for bandits) result in no or smaller scars.

[haknslash 763]

I'm all for a custom facial and body type system. I think it would be cool to add some personal touches and try to make our characters look like we really do, or like Ted Bundy if you wish lol. Oh and beards :D

Edited May 22, 2014 by haknslash

[BeefBacon 1185]

More character customisation, as far as I'm aware, is incoming. Plus the selection of clothing items is probably going to be pretty vast, so it's unlikely that you'll see two people in the exact same gear. Regardless, it'd be nice to see a way for players to identify themselves, perhaps by wearing a coloured armband of some sort.

[Blern 71]

It's necessary that, when travelling with a group, we can identify our friends from foes.

 

I don't know how many times a bandit, wearing something similar to one of my team members, managed to log in or something in the same building we're located in; and ruin everything. It can be as simple as providing armbands for clans, or an icon above their heads, etc. All we need to do is identify our team mates, no one else. It's frustrating to constantly have to be like "Is that one of us? IS that you? Shit, is that a tango?" in every situation. 

Call of Duty is the other disc. Take this one out, insert that one, and restart your PC. 

[Hyperionguy 3]

Realistically I could recognize somebody by just looking at them. Their build, weight, height, and other small features would be easily recognizable. In order for this game to be more realistic it needs some sort of user interface to help compensate for the lack of all those things I listed.

[zudo_1337 2]

Maybe a feature so you could add a colored bandana around your arm. For now we use the same hats. :D

Edited May 26, 2014 by zudo_1337

[Mos1ey 6301]

You should use proper communication to identify your friends. Magic friend icons are not really in keeping with the DayZ ethos IMO.

[JKS-Alex 79]

500+ hours of gameplay with friends and never had problems, so isn't actually necessary and NO thanks, that will ruin the UI... or better... the wonderful absence of any kind of UI. 

Edited May 23, 2014 by JKS-Alex

[Drew1 0]

Perhaps later a character customization with height, weight and body type can be implemented. Else wise it is difficult to identify someone unless you are familiar with their attire, which I find to be realistic.

[blunce 991]

It's necessary that, when travelling with a group, we can identify our friends from foes.

 

I don't know how many times a bandit, wearing something similar to one of my team members, managed to log in or something in the same building we're located in; and ruin everything. It can be as simple as providing armbands for clans, or an icon above their heads, etc. All we need to do is identify our team mates, no one else. It's frustrating to constantly have to be like "Is that one of us? IS that you? Shit, is that a tango?" in every situation. 

Rocket is implementing an ID system as Scriptfactory said.

 

As of right now, it just sounds like your squad needs to stop being so disorganized & communicate better.

[scriptfactory 620]

500+ hours of gameplay with friends and never had problems, so isn't actually necessary and NO thanks, that will ruin the UI... or better... the wonderful absence of any kind of UI. 

 

I am a US Army veteran. I could identify (by sight) virtually every member from my brigade(s) simply from their height, weight, hair color, body stance, gait, etc. We would coordinate during field problems simply using hand gestures and the only reason that worked is because I recognized who I was trying to communicate with and could guide them accordingly.

I love how DayZ has an extremely minimal UI but something really needs to be done for player identification even if it "breaks immersion" simply because the current way of identifying people is extremely unrealistic. Adding a few more character customization options isn't going to fix the problem. Eventually there has to be some method of realistic player identification added to DayZ. I am not sure what, though.

 

p.s. DayZ has an extensive UI.

Edited May 23, 2014 by scriptfactory

[terminal_boy 860]

It's very simple. Everyone who isn't me is my enemy.

[scriptfactory 620]

It's very simple. Everyone who isn't me is my enemy.

 

Don't you think that is kinda' lame? If this is all DayZ SA is going to become then I should have just stuck to the A2/A3 mods... as they are already working better than SA with methods to encourage social interaction.

[JKS-Alex 79]

I am a US Army veteran. I could identify (by sight) virtually every member from my brigade(s) simply from their height, weight, hair color, body stance, gait, etc. We would coordinate during field problems simply using hand gestures and the only reason that worked is because I recognized who I was trying to communicate with and could guide them accordingly.

 

It seems that half of people who play DayZ are Cops or in military, there's something wrong with ratio  :huh: 

 

By the way you just got the answer.. COORDINATION.. Cooridinate with your group with a vocal chat and avoid to change look/skin every day and you will never have a problem. When loots will become persistent on servers you can put aside the same kind of equip so you and your group can wear the same uniform or at least the same "old" outfit if you die. That will solve the problem. i always carrying with me some spare vests and pants that are usually used by our clan memebers to make my friends quickly recognizable if something become ruined. (and it's useful for trades too since i'm mostly friendly).

Even now in my group we are all able to identify ourselves (we are 10 players) simply by the cap (we use all the same cap)and we bring always a copy of our "ordinace hat" so that if someone die we can give it to him. that help a lot to identify us between freshspawns. After few hours everyone get the preffered usual equip (mine is Green cargo pants, Brown hoodie, military boots and green assault vest) so it's easly recognizable as friend.

Avoid to change character skin and look help really a lot, it's about few months that i've stoped asking: "hey mates, is that guy near at XYZ one of us ?!?" Indeed need some hours of training but is notthing so extraordinary

Edited May 23, 2014 by JKS-Alex

[scriptfactory 620]

It seems that half of people who play DayZ are Cops or in military, there's something wrong with ratio  :huh: 

 

Don't be surprised. The Arma series is filled with vets. Also, many military vets are gamers since that is one of the only ways to keep from being bored when down-range/deployed. I was a "medical specialist", 91-B (later 91-W). I was stuck on an APC (M113). When I was stationed in Baumholder, Germany we paid one of the mechanics with ecstasy tabs to hook a generator up for us so we could play Dreamcast/XBox wherever we went.

What happened AFTER I got out of the military is actually more interesting since I now work for a video game publisher in Germany as a developer. :D

 

...snip...

Avoid to change character skin and look help really a lot, it's about few months that i've stoped asking: "hey mates, is that guy near at XYZ one of us ?!?" Indeed need some hours of training but is notthing so extraordinary

 

I still don't accept that but I have confidence that when modding support is adding someone will simply copy over the hexagonal 3D marker from A3. It is a shame that vanilla mod will probably only take care of this issue on a squad level, though... :(