FRIEND/FOE IDENTIFCATION

[Loopest 60]

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. 

Now on Steam, this game is tagged as 'Simulation, MMO, Action, Horror'.

 

Part of the horror is that the game is so realistic, so if you say "Hey friend!", and the guy shoots you, that is 'horrific'.

 

It looks like you are going to have to take some time to remeber what your friends look like, just like in real life.

 

This game is a realistic-apocalypse horror MMO, isnt it?

[scriptfactory 620]

It looks like you are going to have to take some time to remeber what your friends look like, just like in real life.

 

This game is a realistic-apocalypse horror MMO, isnt it?

 

Stop using the realism argument since it is invalid. In real-life we have way of identifying other people that simply will NEVER be available in DayZ.

[scriptfactory 620]

We all have prosopagnosia in DayZ.
 

[Loopest 60]

Stop using the realism argument since it is invalid. In real-life we have way of identifying other people that simply will NEVER be available in DayZ.

Well, it is a realistic game. Do you see people with floating letters stating 'friendly' above their heads? I don't think so...

[Loopest 60]

Well, it is a realistic game. Do you see people with floating letters stating 'friendly' above their heads? I don't think so...

Wear a green or blue beret or one of the 200+ items. That will identify you :D

[scriptfactory 620]

Well, it is a realistic game. Do you see people with floating letters stating 'friendly' above their heads? I don't think so...

 

The word "realistic" means "representing familiar things in a way that is accurate or true to life." How is realistic that we are unable to tell who your friends are? Lack of UI != realism...

[Loopest 60]

The word "realistic" means "representing familiar things in a way that is accurate or true to life." How is realistic that we are unable to tell who your friends are? Lack of UI != realism...

There is squad clothing to help tell friend from foe:

 

1. Colored Berets (4)
2. Color-patterned Bandanas (8)
3. Beanies (4)
4. Rainjackets (6)
5. Shirts (20+)
6. Bright-colored shoes (10+)
7. Boots (6)

And 143 more items...

 

I hope you get the point... that there are ways to tell friends from foe.

 

Just try to get over your dreamlist and use what is at your disposal: 200+ items.

 

Next time you post, think about what you sound like and what you are asking.

 

Thanks. Nathan E.

 

 

I hope this gets locked B)

Edited May 24, 2014 by Loopest

[scriptfactory 620]

...snip...

 

I wish you would actually read my talking points. I am not talking about friendly identification as that will come. Rocket has already announced it. I am talking about personal identification.

Edited May 24, 2014 by scriptfactory

[JKS-Alex 79]

It seems lot of players have trouble.. maybe they can add group markers only in regular and leave the hardcore as it is, that IMO can be a good compromise (since ill play only on HC)  ;)

Edited May 24, 2014 by JKS-Alex

[carbine781 (DayZ) 131]

In real life, you could easily identify somebody's face, especially if you know them. If all of my friends (in real life) wore the same orange shirt, blue jeans, baseball hat, and sneakers, I would be able to recognize all of them with ease, as I remember their facial features.

 

A system for facial recognition could be as follows:

• You add your friends to a list of people. Of course, the other person would have to accept being added to the list (so you can't just add everybody on the server). Perhaps, this list will just be in the main menu, so it is universal between all hive servers.
• When you see their face (not even the back of their head, but specifically their face), there name will show up above their head. Like i said, if you see the back of their head, you won't be able to tell, as you won't see their actual facial features.
• If your friend is wearing something that obscures their face (example: a helmet, bandanna, or mask), the facial recognition system will be disabled, and then, your friend's name will no longer show up above their head (unless they take off whatever is on their face).

[carbine781 (DayZ) 131]

Stop using the realism argument since it is invalid. In real-life we have way of identifying other people that simply will NEVER be available in DayZ.

 

 

 

 

In real life, you could easily identify somebody's face, especially if you know them. If all of my friends (in real life) wore the same orange shirt, blue jeans, baseball hat, and sneakers, I would be able to recognize all of them with ease, as I remember their facial features.

 

A system for facial recognition could be as follows:

• You add your friends to a list of people. Of course, the other person would have to accept being added to the list (so you can't just add everybody on the server). Perhaps, this list will just be in the main menu, so it is universal between all hive servers.
• When you see their face (not even the back of their head, but specifically their face), there name will show up above their head. Like i said, if you see the back of their head, you won't be able to tell, as you won't see their actual facial features.
• If your friend is wearing something that obscures their face (example: a helmet, bandanna, or mask), the facial recognition system will be disabled, and then, your friend's name will no longer show up above their head (unless they take off whatever is on their face).

 

[doctorbadsign 645]

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. 

 

No its not.

 

You don't get a magic indicator in real life...

 

One of the moments that has stuck with me in my experience of playing DayZ is accidentally shooting my friend. Moments like that have a real weight and drama in my opinion.

 

I'm not averse to clothing indicators that are decided upon by the individual, but any UI or anything is a no no in my opinion.

[a_ruttle 199]

Making walkie talkies and their use more common would be nice

[kOepi (DayZ) 35]

anything you can attach to yourself can the bandits do too.
the only way I see to come over that is to know how many people are in every team and to know exactly where they are and should be.
of course then you cannot run around like in a braincluster.

[scriptfactory 620]

You don't get a magic indicator in real life...

 

No, but you would never mistake me for one of your friends if I just put on his clothes either... unless you had prosopagnosia. That isn't a valid argument.

[Evil Minion 943]

It is. In real life you tell people apart by their face and also by their style (clothing, hair, tatoos etc.). Ingame it should be the same.

 

So instead of stupid magic indicators floating around breaking any kind of immersion we should get different faces - lots of them. For "teams" I think tatoos were mentioned - which is a nice idea because you basically commit to them and can't switch between them like you can with clothes.

[scriptfactory 620]

It is. In real life you tell people apart by their face and also by their style (clothing, hair, tatoos etc.). Ingame it should be the same.

 

Your statement is only partially true. Generally you don't recognize your friends by their clothing and hair. Your brain makes an assumption that you know a person based on many factors and, even then, you are often wrong. This is why eyewitness accounts have been found to often be wrong, since to really know someone you need to have multiple indicators that the person you are talking to is truly who you think they are. If it were possible for DayZ to simulate height, weight, gait, facial features, hair color, skin color and clothing style you would still be missing out on indicators such as smell. It is impossible for a game to approximate this which is why even the most "immersive" games rely on in-game gimmicks to simulate friendly identification.

 

So instead of stupid magic indicators floating around breaking any kind of immersion we should get different faces - lots of them. For "teams" I think tatoos were mentioned - which is a nice idea because you basically commit to them and can't switch between them like you can with clothes.

 

Stupid magic indicators? Like the status messages telling you that "You are wet. You are not wet." or "Hungry. Healthy. Energized." DayZ already has many unrealistic interfaces in place and I have no doubt more will be added in the future. This is not a good enough reason to not put them in the game.

I would really like Rocket to simply make it a server option. If he did, however, I am sure that virtually every Regular server owner would turn it on.

Edited May 25, 2014 by scriptfactory

[doctorbadsign 645]

No, but you would never mistake me for one of your friends if I just put on his clothes either... unless you had prosopagnosia. That isn't a valid argument.

 

True, but I might from a distance.

 

Really there is no need for any form of friend/foe identification. If you've established good communication with your friends you won't need it. If you've got poor communication just all wear the same bandanna or something...

[scriptfactory 620]

Really there is no need for any form of friend/foe identification. If you've established good communication with your friends you won't need it. If you've got poor communication just all wear the same bandanna or something...

 

Rocket has already announced faction/party identification. I simply want this on an individual level to encourage grouping among randoms. It is the one that that I really appreciate when playing Arma 3 missions like Breaking Point. KoS and PvP both exist but it is also much easier to find a random group of friendlies due to their faction system and "Add to group" feature.

[benedictus 160]

Whats the fun in that, you see from miles away if its your friend or not OR in hectic gunfight situations were you loose sight on your friend -> just check for the red hovering circle/nametag.

 

 

 

Stupid magic indicators? Like the status messages telling you that "You are wet. You are not wet." or "Hungry. Healthy. Energized." DayZ already has many unrealistic interfaces in place and I have no doubt more will be added in the future.

 

Whats so magical about these messages, since the "feel-o-pad" hasnt come out yet it has to be a small text that tells your that if your hungry or wet or whatever.

I mean, you feel these magical signs in real life, why wouldnt you "feel" them in the game in a form of text.

 

But identifying people from distance by some hovering name tag or whatever is gonna take sooo much fun away from this game, even though it would only work with friends.

Communication is a big part of the game, but when your friends are glowing in all possible colors of neonrainbow you dont need to communicate and try to be organized that much.

 

I hope DayZ will remain the hardcore-one cause A3 mods are already taking the more casual road.

[scriptfactory 620]

Whats the fun in that, you see from miles away if its your friend or not OR in hectic gunfight situations were you loose sight on your friend -> just check for the red hovering circle/nametag.

 

You might have misunderstood me. I don't want to be able to identify friendlies through buildings and across mountains. If I am face-to-face with another player I don't want to have to say, "Is that you, mate. Right in front of me. Is the guy that is directly in front of me you? I am standing next to the police station. Are you standing next to the police station too?"

 

Whats so magical about these messages, since the "feel-o-pad" hasnt come out yet it has to be a small text that tells your that if your hungry or wet or whatever.

I mean, you feel these magical signs in real life, why wouldnt you "feel" them in the game in a form of text.

 

 

I would much rather have aural and visual indicators for these things. If you leg is broken just show a bone popping out of my right leg. If I am hungry my stomach should growl and my face should look emaciated. If I am dehydrated I should look grey/de-saturated and my lips should be chapped. If I am healthy change my character to pose to one that shows confidence and the fact that I am ready for battle. I hope they will add a system like this eventually and, if not, just show me a damned smiley face icon that changes based on my healthy status.

 

But identifying people from distance by some hovering name tag or whatever is gonna take sooo much fun away from this game, even though it would only work with friends.

Communication is a big part of the game, but when your friends are glowing in all possible colors of neonrainbow you dont need to communicate and try to be organized that much.

 

I hope DayZ will remain the hardcore-one cause A3 mods are already taking the more casual road.

 

Within a range of 150m I can immediately tell if I am staring at a friendly in real life. This is impossible in every single game I have played. Player identification isn't casual. It is realistic.

[DMentMan 707]

armband? sure

icon? no

[benedictus 160]

 

Within a range of 150m I can immediately tell if I am staring at a friendly in real life. This is impossible in every single game I have played. Player identification isn't casual. It is realistic.

 

 

True true, but there needs to be a clever way to implement it. Pushing character creation forward could do it, adding height, weight, face variations etc. But Im not sure how doable that option is since the player avatars would be in different sizes and that would just cause more problems/coding to get the items fit.

 

Armbands,  rags + dye? = armband.

[UltimateGentleman 355]

Yeah customizable clothes is the way to go, if everyone has the same face mask on you can't tell them apart but your friend might have a rip in his jeans, some guy shows up wearing the same stuff without a rip, that's not your friend rip them apart!

 

I can recognize my friends and family from their stature and how they walk, everyone in DayZ is exactly the same height and walks exactly the same so it is really stupid that you can't identify people.

 

Maybe instead of something floating above them, if you aim at them it could say "Player X" if they're in your friend/clan list so that your character recognizes them.

After a certain distance it stops working though but works with scopes and stuff to a further distance.

 

That or being able to paint your own symbols on clothing would be fine, give us different coloured spraypaint and let us make our own clan tags in game that would be epic.

 

 

An indicator isn't "unrealistic" it's just a representation of what you could gather in real life, you know what your friends look like you don't confuse them with people wearing the same shirt because your friend might be a fatass or skinny, there's too much detail in real life for you not to know, in most cases.

[Evil Minion 943]

I can recognize my friends and family from their stature and how they walk, everyone in DayZ is exactly the same height and walks exactly the same so it is really stupid that you can't identify people.

Maybe instead of something floating above them, if you aim at them it could say "Player X" if they're in your friend/clan list so that your character recognizes them.

 

[...]

 

An indicator isn't "unrealistic" it's just a representation of what you could gather in real life, you know what your friends look like you don't confuse them with people wearing the same shirt because your friend might be a fatass or skinny, there's too much detail in real life for you not to know, in most cases.

Maybe just offer different statures, faces and maybe even walking animations then? People say:

 

"Survivors all have the same height, stature and only a small number of different faces - so identification is difficult."

 

which is true. But then they are like:

 

"I want to identify surviors - so we need friendlists and floating icons because there is no other way!"

 

Errm... no! Go back to the first statement! Read it! Again! Instead of adding artifical features to replace/simulate natural features why not just implement those natural features instead? Its also more realistic because you have to look for the same things as in real life, don't have a 100% success rate (thats what some people really want here - something that makes KoS much easier) and makes the game look more diverse and thus more immersive.