"Other Player Near" messages suggestion

[Cliff_beefkake 2]

Just a suggestion, but I'm tired of the anti-social aspect of this game. I think it's an awesome game, and I have a lot fun gearing up, killing zombies, and surviving.

But, I'm really tired of getting gunned down or having to gun down others in random encounters.  If you can get messages about your environment, like I'm cold, or I'm hot, or my leg is broken. Why can't we have the character say something about another player being nearby? If another character is within 25-40 yards, why can't the character say something like: "I think someone else is near." Why not? If I was in a deserted town, I'm sure I'd be hearing someone walking or running near me. As I have actually hunted and spent numerous hours camping/hiking, I know when an animal or another human is near me within 30 yards. 

 

Also, the if the DayZ engine can determine so much about environment, why can't it calculate some type of rating system for players and their kills? Say, if a character has killed several characters, that character should "appear" untrustworthy to others. Maybe you get a message like "this person doesn't look that trust-worthy." Or, "This guy has a good look to him." There's no real incentive to team up and trust others, and I think it's hurting game-play. Clans are burdensome, and I don't know if they're really the answer in a game like this. 

 

It's very difficult to actually team up with anyone at this point, unless you know them outside of the game, and a rating system would make this game a bit less anti-social and a bit more fun. Just my two cents. 

[James Hawke 114]

Sorry, I think that's a bad idea. "I think someone else is near"? That would tell snipers when someone's sneaking up on them. It would tell people in buildings when someone's passing by on the street, although they'd realistically have no way of knowing that. You could just as well call it "I think my spider-sense is tingling..." xD

 

For the other one, what if someone has killed a lot of people solely in self defense? Would he appear untrustworthy to you? And how can you tell from the looks of a person that he has killed people? Doesn't make much sense realistically.

[Bad Company 140]

No. You say that you know if someone would be near you, so why would there be a need for this system? This will just encourage people to play the game like a deathmatch.

[friendlypilot 37]

NO , its a survival horror dude , limited hud is whats is suppose to be

 

the texts of , cold ect are to do with yourself not the enviroment

 

if you listen you can hear people like in real life ... abiet some sounds dont work sometimes the triggers seem to be off , but this is alpha ,

 

surely you knew what you was getting into when you brought the game?

 

but on the other hand , a text saying someone is near when you hear them running ,the message could help deaf people or people playing with no sound ,

 

think run around a town road , message pops up person is in building next to you , arm up raid the house , not wanted in dayz , lucky you have a map let alone a GPS (if they let one in i say they will eventually)

 

keep the game hardcore . its better this way , sneak and ninja is the best option for you as theres no cars or vehicles , i even reverted to server hopping to get more food and water for run from one city to the next or if i need to catch up with my buddies that are logged out in some place i need to get too ,.

 

and do you really want more red admin writing on your hud along with your starving hungry cold run out toilet paper on your screen , you will end up missing the fact your hungry due to the 6 clan dudes that just turned round the corner and started poking you and annoying you .,.. NO just no it will never work and if they did it would ruin what day z is about

Edited September 21, 2014 by friendlypilot

[kichilron 8550]

If you can get messages about your environment, like I'm cold, or I'm hot, or my leg is broken. Why can't we have the character say something about another player being nearby?

 

If another character is within 25-40 yards, why can't the character say something like: "I think someone else is near." Why not? If I was in a deserted town, I'm sure I'd be hearing someone walking or running near me.

 

 

You are bringing up two very different things here.

 

From a Gamedesign perspective you have to overcome a certain lack of feedback to the player. The player is sitting in his warm room and thus does not feel cold. If you have this kind of mechanic built in your game, you will have to give the player feedback as to whether he's getting cold or not. And because it has different levels of warm / cold it can't just be a simple fact of making the screen go blue or having it freeze up as some other games do.

This is currently represented by the messages you're getting.

 

You do not have a lack of being immersed with your auditory senses. You have headphones / speakers and they are telling you whether someone's near or not. There is no need to overcome a lack of representaiton, as it can be and is represented.

 

 

Simple messages, such as "Someone is near me." will not work, as you would have to rely on your senses to be able to tell. This is how it works in reallife and there is no lack of such things in this game and thus there is no need - it would actually go the other way in the end and would be abused, in a way that is not going to help with gameplay and especially not how you're striving for it.

You're bringing forth the lack of social interaction - but this could easily be abused to search for the easy prey, that is a freshspawn.

 

All in All: I wouldn't want to see such a feature, as it's completely against what the game stands for.

Edited September 21, 2014 by kichilron

[a_ruttle 199]

Why not? If I was in a deserted town, I'm sure I'd be hearing someone walking or running near me. As I have actually hunted and spent numerous hours camping/hiking, I know when an animal or another human is near me within 30 yards. 

 

You don't need messages for this, if you play patiently and carefully, you will hear peoples' footsteps.

[Evil Minion 943]

I do not support this. Its just a magical radar giving you information you should not have. Eliminates any stealth, deception and quite a lot of excitement.

The only situation where I would approve of such a message is when someone logs in very close to you as there are no other means of telling (I would also approve of moving the player spawn away to create a minimum distance here) - in this case the logging player should also get the message.

[DMentMan 707]

this is the worst idea i have ever heard. so no.

[Cliff_beefkake 2]

Sorry, I think that's a bad idea. "I think someone else is near"? That would tell snipers when someone's sneaking up on them. It would tell people in buildings when someone's passing by on the street, although they'd realistically have no way of knowing that. You could just as well call it "I think my spider-sense is tingling..." xD

 

For the other one, what if someone has killed a lot of people solely in self defense? Would he appear untrustworthy to you? And how can you tell from the looks of a person that he has killed people? Doesn't make much sense realistically.

 

Thanks for writing in. You have some good points. I play in a defensive, non-bandit way. I don't think the object of the game is to shoot on sight. Many do, and it's because there's no other recourse in the game. I've had to several times, and I don't think the game play offers anything other than being in an extremely paranoid mindset. Sure, people turn on each others, and there's in-fighting within groups, but if the game's a survival simulator, then it should be easier to detect people around you (if they're not intentionally being stealthy). 

The first point. I agree. The message should not come up if someone is sneaking up on a sniper. Crawling or crouching would not be noticed, and the message should not appear. If you are sneaking up on someone your intentions are not good, anyway. Many of my encounters in .49 have been from doors being open randomly. Even after camping and scouting I don't really know if someone is currently in the area or not. So, some of the people I've had to gun down when I came across them simply because they're so close, and I can't trust them (they also can't trust me). I believe that socialized human-beings (since they are survivors after the zombie apocalypse) would still cling to some level of morality and not shoot on sight. So, I'm proposing an in-game way of knowing when someone is unwittingly jogging or running around a 20 yard area. It would give you the option to retreat or engage. The game doesn't give you much of an option to play as a survivor. Only as a coerced bandit.

I've been in the woods, and I'm a veteran. If you sit still and listen, you can always hear someone walking around or running within 20-30 yards, especially with gear. A message system would allow people to either retreat if possible, or engage if they really want. Either that, or they need to enhance the sound engine, because it sucks. It's bull that you can be in a building and sitting still, you can't hear a door close or open when you're in an adjacent room.

Your second point: I agree that the untrustworthy thing is nebulous. It was just a suggestion for a character to show signs of mental issues from combat, or shooting someone on site. People that commit those types of acts usually suffer from PTSD (afterwards), are sociopaths, or have extreme anxiety. You can usually spot the symptoms of these disorders within a 30 seconds.

Just trying to enhance the simulated experience. 

[Cliff_beefkake 2]

You don't need messages for this, if you play patiently and carefully, you will hear peoples' footsteps.

 

I agree, but the sound engine is lacking. It's not realistic. You should be able to hear footsteps at least 20 yards away, especially with people moving around with gear. Plus, the random open doors has left me without a way of being defensive/non-bandit-like when entering cities. I walk in, take my time, and some schmoe walks into a room that I've painstakingly entered, and I gotta' shoot him, or he gets to me first. Either way, it's forcing me into a shoot-first mentality. Not really a good direction in concepts of survival. Usually, harsh situations make people band together. 

[Cliff_beefkake 2]

I do not support this. Its just a magical radar giving you information you should not have. Eliminates any stealth, deception and quite a lot of excitement.

The only situation where I would approve of such a message is when someone logs in very close to you as there are no other means of telling (I would also approve of moving the player spawn away to create a minimum distance here) - in this case the logging player should also get the message.

 

I agree, and would amend the concept to not include crawling or crouching. If someone is sneaking up on you through crawling or slow walking, then the message shouldn't appear. I'm just thinking about providing defensive/non-bandit-type players with more options than shoot-on-site when being close to other unsuspecting players. Like, if you're still and I run by within 20 yards, you should get the message, not me. That would give you more options to either engage, retreat, or make contact. Maybe there should be a better contact system. If the game is about surviving, then shooting everyone you come across makes for lame game play. 

Edited September 21, 2014 by Cliff_beefkake

[Cliff_beefkake 2]

You are bringing up two very different things here.

 

From a Gamedesign perspective you have to overcome a certain lack of feedback to the player. The player is sitting in his warm room and thus does not feel cold. If you have this kind of mechanic built in your game, you will have to give the player feedback as to whether he's getting cold or not. And because it has different levels of warm / cold it can't just be a simple fact of making the screen go blue or having it freeze up as some other games do.

This is currently represented by the messages you're getting.

 

You do not have a lack of being immersed with your auditory senses. You have headphones / speakers and they are telling you whether someone's near or not. There is no need to overcome a lack of representaiton, as it can be and is represented.

 

 

Simple messages, such as "Someone is near me." will not work, as you would have to rely on your senses to be able to tell. This is how it works in reallife and there is no lack of such things in this game and thus there is no need - it would actually go the other way in the end and would be abused, in a way that is not going to help with gameplay and especially not how you're striving for it.

You're bringing forth the lack of social interaction - but this could easily be abused to search for the easy prey, that is a freshspawn.

 

All in All: I wouldn't want to see such a feature, as it's completely against what the game stands for.

 

I agree with some of your assessments. But, I disagree with others. I play defensively and used to scout for open doors to allow me to retreat without engagement since most encounters ends with someone being killed. That recourse is gone now that doors are opened randomly. I can scout for a while, but stuff still goes down when I enter a town and someone that's careless comes running in. I usually have to shoot first, but it would be more realistic for players to make contact without being in the line of fire, or in the same room. 

I agree that most of the sensory information (heat, cold, physical condition) should be displayed because it is not available to the user as he is in a different environment. I agree that the suggestion "someone is near me" is not that well-defined, and would probably be abused. I had amended the concept to exclude messages for someone who is crawling, or crouching. Also the message shouldn't appear if your character is running/jogging as the noise you make would cancel out your ability to hear other players. 

As for earphone to hear sounds characters make (footsteps), this is woefully under-developed. I've spent time in the woods, and I'm also a vet. You can hear someone jogging or walking along with gear from 20-30 yards away, easy. This is amplified in urban areas, as sound reflects off walls and is amplified in rooms/buildings with no insulation. I would easily hear a door close or someone with a full backpack walking up stairs. A message would go off (if you don't' want to improve the sound engine), and I could shout something like "Stop" or "Please back off." 

I don't know if the game was specifically designed to be a shoot-on-sight pvp game. I mean if you want that, shouldn't you be playing breaking point? Anyway, zombie survival would be all about banding together. I don't think there'd be much shooting on sight for the hell of it. 

[pale1776 375]

In a world where there are zombies, curb and stairs are serial killers, rocks kill me as I pass by, and BLUE BERRIES ARE POISONOUS AND HOLLY BERRIES ARE FINE I had damn better see a humanity system XD

[roguetrooper 201]

There should be a message when a player LOGS IN nearby (maybe within a radius of 100 metres). This may work as some kind of countermeasure to a magical pop-up of somebody where nobody can be from a logical point of view (e.g. you have just searched a house with one entrance only, found nobody, you leave it and suddenly another person comes out).

[kichilron 8550]

(if you don't' want to improve the sound engine)

The Developers have stated that there is a sound artist working on numerous aspects of the sound environment.

The current sounds are placeholders and mostly taken from other games, such as ARMA 2. I would expect the sound to change entirely before the game releases.

[a_ruttle 199]

I agree, but the sound engine is lacking. It's not realistic. You should be able to hear footsteps at least 20 yards away, especially with people moving around with gear. Plus, the random open doors has left me without a way of being defensive/non-bandit-like when entering cities. I walk in, take my time, and some schmoe walks into a room that I've painstakingly entered, and I gotta' shoot him, or he gets to me first. Either way, it's forcing me into a shoot-first mentality. Not really a good direction in concepts of survival. Usually, harsh situations make people band together. 

Very good point, I'm sure the current system is WIP, a nice feature to see in future would be a noise rating for gear, so if someone is wearing a smersh vest with loose bullets in it they'll make noise accordingly.

[a_ruttle 199]

The Developers have stated that there is a sound artist working on numerous aspects of the sound environment.

The current sounds are placeholders and mostly taken from other games, such as ARMA 2. I would expect the sound to change entirely before the game releases.

I seem to remember hearing the current AKM sounds in operation flashpoint and the current AK101 sounds from RH's Russian armed forces mod in ArmA 2, so nostalgic.

[lauri7x3 100]

thats a rly stupid idea sorry

[Rowdy (DayZ) 28]

Terribad idea tbh, if you think irl you would know because you can hear them etc, then use the sound in the game to tell if someone is around you, if you can't tell from sound, then they are being careful and you shouldn't know they are there.

 

use your wits and be cautious when in towns. This is the only way to survive. I have been burned too many times by people just shooting me for no reason. I trust no-one anymore.....

[General Zod 1118]

Guess what ?

You can already hear nearby players, so no, no psychic abilities. And you need to learn to judge other players yourself. 

[doctorbadsign 645]

Just a suggestion, but I'm tired of the anti-social aspect of this game. I think it's an awesome game, and I have a lot fun gearing up, killing zombies, and surviving.

But, I'm really tired of getting gunned down or having to gun down others in random encounters.  If you can get messages about your environment, like I'm cold, or I'm hot, or my leg is broken. Why can't we have the character say something about another player being nearby? If another character is within 25-40 yards, why can't the character say something like: "I think someone else is near." Why not? If I was in a deserted town, I'm sure I'd be hearing someone walking or running near me. As I have actually hunted and spent numerous hours camping/hiking, I know when an animal or another human is near me within 30 yards. 

 

Also, the if the DayZ engine can determine so much about environment, why can't it calculate some type of rating system for players and their kills? Say, if a character has killed several characters, that character should "appear" untrustworthy to others. Maybe you get a message like "this person doesn't look that trust-worthy." Or, "This guy has a good look to him." There's no real incentive to team up and trust others, and I think it's hurting game-play. Clans are burdensome, and I don't know if they're really the answer in a game like this. 

 

It's very difficult to actually team up with anyone at this point, unless you know them outside of the game, and a rating system would make this game a bit less anti-social and a bit more fun. Just my two cents. 

 

I'm not trying to be funny but its easy to tell if someone is near. If you don't take the time to look for the signs you don't deserve to know someone is there. Even if there are no obvious signs you know the kinds of areas that it is likely to encounter someone, so you can always be vigilant.

 

You can also suss pretty easily when someone is untrustworthy. Asking you to go somewhere is one sign. Trying to get you to do something that would make you drop your guard. Long periods of silence during conversation. All of these things indicate that you shouldn't trust them.

 

I don't think the game needs to compensate for the ineptitude of players when it comes to being vigilant and picking up on these signs.

[JackyCTV 54]

This is fucking stupid, why don't we just add a Radar for our HUD then a UAV showing players on the map aswel while we are at it

[sizl96 2]

yeee bad idea,this isnt cod 

[General Zod 1118]

Let's give everyone a free wallhack. 

[Trizzo 632]

Clicks on thread.

 

Looks at avatar.

 

Sees offhand .50 cal shooting.

 

Thread makes sense now.

Edited September 28, 2014 by Trizzo