Practise controls in the main menu

[degude 133]

Hi,

 

Everyone I know who plays DayZ (including me) struggled with the controls of the game when playing it for the first time. For me it even led to dying a few times when it got very hectic and I didn't know which button to press.

 

So it would be nice if you can get in thouch with the controls in the main menu. My idea, make all movement options available for the character that currently only can be rotated. This way a new player can try out all the controls without any pressure or somebody who hasn't played for a longer peroid can get back into the controls easily.

 

A few examples:

- Walking and running (character should stay on the spot; kind of run without moving)

- All body movements (sit down, lay down, stand up, lean left/right)

- Step/jump over fence (without the fence but the movement is clear enough that anybody understands)

- Fight mode (should be according to the weapon the character is holding), aiming mode (look through scope)

- Fire gun/rifle or use the melee weapon (depending on what is in the characters hands by deafault and should not consume ammo)

- Use flashlights

- Throw (Object should respawn in the hand after a few seconds)

- All the F-animations should also work (like F3 for "sit down")

Edited August 25, 2014 by degude

[SomeCallMeNomad (DayZ) 89]

I like this idea. I know when I show a friend DayZ, it also takes them a while to learn the controls

[hoik 415]

Great idea IMO.

[Evil Minion 943]

Yes please! Being able to see all this is why I started playing the game on Third Person servers. It would be awesome to learn the controls without being at the mercy of some Third Person peekers.

[haven923 65]

I feel a better approach would be to add in a demo/free range area that you can learn game basics in.  Having an introduction would be great.  They don't have to reveal all the mechanics of the game, but they could show you how to combine a couple different items, how to bandage a wound, movement and interaction, basic firearms and weapons, etc.  Simple, short, and just kinda a sandbox to get a grasp on basic game mechanics...

[degude 133]

I feel a better approach would be to add in a demo/free range area that you can learn game basics in.  Having an introduction would be great.  They don't have to reveal all the mechanics of the game, but they could show you how to combine a couple different items, how to bandage a wound, movement and interaction, basic firearms and weapons, etc.  Simple, short, and just kinda a sandbox to get a grasp on basic game mechanics...

Yeah I thought about that too but this is usually a lot of work and a very late game feature. That way learning is surely easier, but if you just want to get used to it again you don't have to start a whole tutorial. Personally I never do tutorials so this suits me a lot more. Especially when you show somebody the game you can quickly pick up the controls.

Besides, it's a good toy to play around with while waiting for someone :P

[haven923 65]

Yeah I thought about that too but this is usually a lot of work and a very late game feature. That way learning is surely easier, but if you just want to get used to it again you don't have to start a whole tutorial. Personally I never do tutorials so this suits me a lot more. Especially when you show somebody the game you can quickly pick up the controls.

Besides, it's a good toy to play around with while waiting for someone :P

Maybe there could be different stations that focus on different mechanics?  Like a tutorial area with no set path, but when you approach different features a text walkthrough pops up to explain how to interact and manipulate?  Like if you wanted to focus on refining movement, you go to the obstacle course where you are told how to change your stance as you approach the area, then you get instructed on how to climb a ladder, swim, and vault at their respective stations.  For melee weapons and firearms there could be a pen with some zeds in it or some stationary (or moving!) targets at a range-like area with benches sporting a couple rudimentary weapons to try your hand at.  Zed scratch you in the melee pen?  Move over to the ambulance to get walkthroughs on tearing a shirt into rags for bandages, treating infections, craft a splint, and maybe a couple primers on preemptive steps to take to avoid things like hypothermia or food poisoning.  What's that over there on the ground?  Those are supplies to build a campfire!  Oh, what's that next to them?  There's a burlap sack and some rope.  At that station you could be prompted with remarks on how to combine objects to craft better, more useful objects.  A set walkthrough wouldn't really match up with the sandbox nature of DayZ.  Having a sandbox tutorial zone would be the most logical approach.

[degude 133]

Maybe there could be different stations that focus on different mechanics?  Like a tutorial area with no set path, but when you approach different features a text walkthrough pops up to explain how to interact and manipulate?  Like if you wanted to focus on refining movement, you go to the obstacle course where you are told how to change your stance as you approach the area, then you get instructed on how to climb a ladder, swim, and vault at their respective stations.  For melee weapons and firearms there could be a pen with some zeds in it or some stationary (or moving!) targets at a range-like area with benches sporting a couple rudimentary weapons to try your hand at.  Zed scratch you in the melee pen?  Move over to the ambulance to get walkthroughs on tearing a shirt into rags for bandages, treating infections, craft a splint, and maybe a couple primers on preemptive steps to take to avoid things like hypothermia or food poisoning.  What's that over there on the ground?  Those are supplies to build a campfire!  Oh, what's that next to them?  There's a burlap sack and some rope.  At that station you could be prompted with remarks on how to combine objects to craft better, more useful objects.  A set walkthrough wouldn't really match up with the sandbox nature of DayZ.  Having a sandbox tutorial zone would be the most logical approach.

 

Yeah that's been suggested before (http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/184864-optional-tutorial).

But in my opinion this takes out the excitement of discovering DayZ. If I get told right away what I can find and do, it seems kind of boring to me.

For learning what and how to craft I'd rather use google and YouTube. This doesn't mean I don't like a tutorial, I just wouldn't use it. For me such a "playing with a character" would be a quick way to try and learn the mechanics and then I'd just head into the game ;)

[nl 986]

What's wrong with dying a few times while learning the game? Part of the learning curve and even fun I'd say.

Not that I'm against the idea, just don't really see the need for it.

 

On a different note: as soon as I got into the game, like with all other games, I changed the control set up to my own basics I'm used to. After some playing I tweaked them a little further and can't remember I ever died because of my (basic) controls like running, sprinting, crouching, strafing, optics, firing, reloading and so on. Now getting into a panic, yes that did get me killed a few times but controls won't help you in that regard ;)

[haven923 65]

I died four times right away.  First two times I died of hunger or thirst while trying to get my flashlight to work.  Not even kidding.  Third death I gave up on the flashlight and tried eating some food.  Rotten fruit = no no.  Fourth death I was mauled by a zombie because I accidentally went prone and couldn't stand up.

I'm not saying there should be a walkthrough on how to build a fully functional gyro copter with detachable pulse laser.  I little help learning how to walk would be nice, though...

[degude 133]

What's wrong with dying a few times while learning the game? Part of the learning curve and even fun I'd say.

Not that I'm against the idea, just don't really see the need for it.

 

On a different note: as soon as I got into the game, like with all other games, I changed the control set up to my own basics I'm used to. After some playing I tweaked them a little further and can't remember I ever died because of my (basic) controls like running, sprinting, crouching, strafing, optics, firing, reloading and so on. Now getting into a panic, yes that did get me killed a few times but controls won't help you in that regard ;)

Yeah changing the controls is useful, but most of the time I do that when I played a while and know whats important to me (removing throw from "G" :P). Well, first time I died I tried to jump over a fence like crazy with "Space" while I was running away from a guy chasing me with an axe. The other thing I remember is that I acidentally double tapped "Shift" and was wondering why my character was walking instead of jogging, since you can't fight while sprinting I lost a fight to a zombie because I could only walk  :P.

It's a bit frustrating if you're new to the game and die because you're not used to the controls. Of course dying wasn't really too bad because I just started playing but it takes out some fun in the beginning.

[Evil Minion 943]

Lets combine this with the inventory screen showing your characters stance and action so you can actually check your pose without having to look around.