RETHINKING ACTIONS - ASSISTANCE

[alexander_q 6]

Actions present an excellent opportunity for cooperation between players. Things like preparing meat and repairing vehicles could be worked at collaboratively to reduce the time it takes to complete the action. Adding noise levels increases the vulnerability of players while performing actions, which further motivates the cooperation. This requires a rebalancing of actions to make them take longer by default.

HOW IT WORKS

To assist in an action, be within range of an object being acted upon, and select "assist action x" from the action menu. Assisting an action reduces its time by a base rate of 25%, then by 50% for each assistant. For example, if repairing a vehicle normally takes 60 seconds, then with one assistant it will take (60 - (60*0.25) ) * 0.5 = 22.5 seconds.

Graphically, the time could be shown via a transparent bar that becomes opaque, with a "x1", "x2" or "x3" icon to indicate how much assistance is being given.

Actions can now be described by the following categories:

-Action

-Time to Complete

-Tool Required

-Tool to Assist

-Maximum Assistants

-Noise

*SURVIVAL*

Action: Chop wood

Time to Complete: 15 seconds

Tool Required: Hatchet

Tool to Assist: Hatchet

Maximum Assistants: 1

Noise: High

Action: Gut animal

Time to Complete: 15 seconds/meat

Tool Required: Hunting knife

Tool to Assist: Hunting knife

Maximum Assistants: 1

Noise: Low

Action: Light fire

Time to Complete: 30 seconds

Tool Required: Matches

Tool to Assist: None

Maximum Assistants: 1

Noise: Low

Action: Cook meat

Time to Complete: 15 seconds/meat

Tool Required: Meat

Tool to Assist: None

Maximum Assistants: 2

Noise: Low

*MEDICAL*

Action: Blood transfusion

Time to Complete: 60 seconds

Tool Required: Blood bag

Tool to Assist: None

Maximum Assistants: 0

Noise: Low

Action: Bandage

Time to Complete: 30 seconds

Tool Required: Bandage

Tool to Assist: None

Maximum Assistants: 0

Noise: None

*MECHANIC*

Action: Repair

Time to Complete: 60 seconds

Tool Required: Fuel tank/Engine/Wheel/Scrap metal

Tool to Assist: None

Maximum Assistants: 2

Noise: High

FUTURE POSSIBILITIES

Future actions that would benefit from assistance in this fashion might include barricading doors and building structures. This mechanic would also benefit from a skill advancement system like the one detailed here: http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=24651, wherein some players became better at performing actions via practice, and reduce the time required even further (or perhaps improve the efficacy).

TL;DR

Actions take longer, but can be assisted by other players and the time cut in half or more.

[Leon (DayZ) 0]

Great idea! Love it!

Maybe increase default time to do stuff up to 2-3-4 minutes (depending on a difficulty of a task) to make it more relevant.

[Bo0G 7]

This idea has a lot of promise for encouraging team play. Nice one!

+1

[alexander_q 6]

Great idea! Love it!

Maybe increase default time to do stuff up to 2-3-4 minutes (depending on a difficulty of a task) to make it more relevant.

Yeah, it's hard to decide just how long to make the actions, though I suppose the longer an action takes by default, the greater the benefit of having an assistant. I would not be opposed to longer times, especially for something like a blood transfusion.

[DevilDog (DayZ) 455]

I think putting on a rotor head or sticking a motor in a car should take a while. Maybe 5 minutes each. So obviously having assistants for those would be a HUGE help.

[fundan@gmx.de 82]

Sounds like a very good idea...

[alexander_q 6]

I think putting on a rotor head or sticking a motor in a car should take a while. Maybe 5 minutes each. So obviously having assistants for those would be a HUGE help.

Yeah, you're right, and I think vehicle repairs in general should reflect the size and complexity of the vehicle. So the cars should take less time than a bus, which should take less time than a truck, which should take less time than a helicopter.

[BL1P 252]

I think putting on a rotor head or sticking a motor in a car should take a while. Maybe 5 minutes each. So obviously having assistants for those would be a HUGE help.

+1 doing anything as complex as repairing a chopper would take hours IRL

so why not 5mins in game

[SystemiK 366]

Seems like quite a lot of coding / testing would be needed to accomplish this. All to shave a few seconds off of an action. Sorry, but considering that there are only a few people actually coding this mod, I think there are many other things to focus on that would add much more to the game than shaving of 15 seconds here, a minute there etc.

[alexander_q 6]

Seems like quite a lot of coding / testing would be needed to accomplish this. All to shave a few seconds off of an action. Sorry' date=' but considering that there are only a few people actually coding this mod, I think there are many other things to focus on that would add much more to the game than shaving of 15 seconds here, a minute there etc.

[/quote']

Certainly it won't be everyone's priority, but rewarding cooperation is currently mine. From recent interviews, it does seem to be Rocket's too, but I guess we'll see what comes.

[hoik 415]

Nice to see the expansion of this idea from your other thread- would 5 star it but for some reason the rating system isnt showing, is that just me?

[alexander_q 6]

I can't see it either. It's a shame.

[hoik 415]

Give you a bump, and some beans!