Do we really need more towns?

[bfisher 561]

Don't need to be a housing contractor to make a shitty house.  And who's to say my character isn't a carpenter?  This is supposed to be MY story.  We're just people surviving an apocalypse, we're getting farming, there's hunting and fishing.  Why am I supposed to be some lone starving guy?

 

Everyone starts out as a lone starving guy.  What you do after that is up to you.

 

A couple of points:

A)  The map is already full of abandoned buildings...why would a character need to create more?

B )  Assuming we want players to be able to build structures, realistically they should, at best, consist of slapping plywood, corrugated tin and 2x4s together to build some shanties and crappy lean-to shelters.  Not 12,000 sq ft 8 bedroom mansions.  Basically whatever a couple of guys could realistically build with just some hand tools.

C)  Do we really want the hills of Electro and Cherno to end up looking like a Brazilian favela?

Edited November 6, 2014 by bfisher

[bfisher 561]

I dont think we need more towns... what we need is more points of interest... like green mountain, devils castle, ship wreck by Rify... more "fun" stuff in a way....

 

Lastly I miss the barracks at Balota and the tents at Stary... they need to bring them back :(

 

 

Agree about the points of interest.  It doesn't even have to be a 300 foot radio tower or beached cargo ship.  Little things like unique statues and billboards in towns or maybe an unusual tree or rock formation or whatever can be enough to offset the feeling of looking at the same stock buildings over and over.

 

Plus adding some furniture to the building interiors would help too.  Maybe have it more procedural so the same building might have a half doesn't different combinations of interiors in various colors, just to give them some more variety?

 

 

Also, why do the rail cars look like leftovers from a WWII concentration camp?  There is a beached container ship and modern looking seaports.  Why aren't the rail cars using the same standard intermodal containers?

[solodude23 649]

OK so what makes buildings more interesting than a field? I don't get your argument at all because it seems like you're saying, remove all the fields, and forests and replace them with buildings.

Nah man not at all, just the existing areas that are already cleared out where towns are planned. Just look at the new towns in the northwest (Novaya Petrovka & Topolniki). The towns, aside from the buildings themselves, are very unique IMO due to their layout and personal "style" - I really like that area now. I don't expect you to agree with me, but that's my opinion on the towns.

 

So why not just make the map one huge city - is that interesting? No. A field on it's own is not interesting but when it makes up the "landscape", it becomes a feature of that which may be an obstacle to cross, a place of observation, a place to set up a base, a place to grow crops.

Totally - but even with the newly added towns there's plenty of fields in the area (Check it out here). The area in which these towns now reside is HUGE and was previously the most boring and unused part of the map. It's by no means crowded and I certainly find that they make the area more interesting. There's still fields to cross as obstacles - in fact that's nearly the only way to get to either town. The area still has plenty of room for crops and there's still plenty of room to setup camp.

 

Do you know why people go on holiday to the countryside? You must not get out much and you also fail to understand what a landscape is. There's 40 towns/villages on the map, how is 41 going to make it a more interesting map?

 C'mon dude that's not necessary. I was referring to the area as being unlike a countryside because it appears intentionally cleared out - as it was. It resembled an early construction site for a town  much more than the countryside or a "landscape".

OK next part :) Put yourself in any major city, in the middle of it on a road and look around. Notice how it kinda looks like every city in Cherno? I'm not sure though why you would jump to a conclusion that I literally meant they copy and pasted the towns.

Well, I can't quite agree that every town looks alike. I didn't exactly believe that you thought they were literally copied and pasted, I just don't think it's in any way an accurate description of how they build towns - so why say it?

[Xbow 362]

Is anyone else let down that the idea to "Expand the game" is to build more towns with the same repeated structures? I really don't see a need for more towns with nothing new to offer. If we received new unique landmarks like the shipwreck and very tall building in novo I could see the merit however this current trend is as pedantic as community dayz mods that added in more barracks buildings.

I hear you and I agree.  One of the things I have liked about the game is that there has always been plenty of unused wild space or Wilderness and I dont want that to change. Add some randomly spawning Zeds in the forests as there are in the Black Forest in conjunction with some way of making a camp that is safe enough to check out it. Imagine logging on to a situation where a herd of Zeds is approaching your camp from out of the fog.

Edited November 7, 2014 by Xbow

[Jex 1104]

I am sick from so many new identikit town every place you is looking :|

 

same house

 

same hospital

 

same shed

 

same barn

 

same everything > :(

 

 

Welcome back Kos! :)

 

Yep you get it - everything is the same no matter how you arrange the roads, all towns end up looking alike to the point of boring. Simply adding more towns and taking away countryside which was unique, is a move into boringness. Maybe they'll make new buildings but until that's confirmed, this is what we have right now and once again, nobody has been able to answer the quest "Why do we need more towns"? Apparently the countryside is boring. The answer to that - don't fucking go there then. Just run up and down the coast from town to town - weeeeeeeeee! ;)

[wild_man 4442]

Welcome back Kos! :)

 

Yep you get it - everything is the same no matter how you arrange the roads, all towns end up looking alike to the point of boring. Simply adding more towns and taking away countryside which was unique, is a move into boringness. Maybe they'll make new buildings but until that's confirmed, this is what we have right now and once again, nobody has been able to answer the quest "Why do we need more towns"? Apparently the countryside is boring. The answer to that - don't fucking go there then. Just run up and down the coast from town to town - weeeeeeeeee! ;)

 

 

yes I am agree 100% what you say :thumbsup:  ;)

 

Original Chernarus map is #1 true classic beautiful map in history of gaming

 

big countryside area making fantastic atmosphere and feel of be lost in wilderness

 

GONE IS DAYS WHEN YOU RUN FOR 30 MINUTE LOOK FOR TOWN BUT DONT MANAGE :o

 

GONE IS CONTRAST OF DIFFERENT AMBIENT FEEL OF TOWN AND WILDERNESS  

 

now is like silly map losing soul losing realism is like some person in dev team is addict for fucking town design :huh:

 

I agree make bigger the cherno elektro etc

 

I agree make few more town in North

 

but now is time for stop and focus on open all the closed building and improve interior what is there give every town character and unique identity :(

 

this stupid boring multi town same style every building repeat is destroy map what was almost the perfect map for dayz >:(

 

when we play mod NOBODY WAS ASK FOR MORE TOWN :|

 

I think they forgot what is special feeling to be lost in forest and farm lands look for supplies Is make me sad they losing control of original vision <_<

Edited November 7, 2014 by KoS

[Accolyte 1727]

Did some cleaning. Offenders, please settle down.

 

Cheers!

 

Acco

[DocWolf 146]

Honestly, in the middle of all this whining there are very few valid points.

* More points of interest. How true! A big amusement park near the big southern cities could be really interesting. Kid playgrounds and/or small public parks around mid-sized towns could be a good idea too; bus/truck deposits should be somewhere. Something less "scenic" but more "atmospheric" could be wrecks and traffic jams on major roads (either fleeing certain towns or trying to enter), areas where the military tried to drive back refugees or contain infection (bombed out buildings, checkpoints, burned out civilian and military vehicles). Much more mass graves around the map, with construction equipment around; much more destruction and car wrecks in towns and cities; abandoned (and semi-destroyed) cars in the middle of nowhere with messages for friends/families pinned on them. Makeshift memorials in big towns dating the start of the infection, with people pinning prayers or "have you seen him?" leaflets on walls. Much, much, much more blood and destruction in urbanized areas.

* Too few building models. That's right - even if the model count is quite high, the various towns does not seem authenitc enough. Try changing external textures of already existing buildings: two stories green house could be coloured in many ways, with different textures like chipped paint, bullet-riddled walls, blood or burned stains, faded paint, new paint...

* Irrealistic internal layout of buildings. Hell, let's be honest...current buildings, with very few exceptions, are absolutely irrealistic. Revise the internal layout of the most outrageous buildings out there and we'll call it a day and stop complaining about that...not every one of them, just the weirdest/most bugged ones. A free suggestion: if you really want to place a "cosmetic" door (as in, something that cannot be opened and is there just for show) at least change the skin...I don't know, cover it with nailed boards, show signs of welding if it's metallic, put chains/big locks on them. It helps immersion.

On a more general note: a couple more cities/towns is not Armageddon. But please, before adding new urban areas, start working on improving what you already have on the map. And for the love of God, start working also on the atmosphere. We need to see and feel there was a total breakout of society in Chernarus. Nowadays the map seems a big, abandoned movie set.

[ChainReactor 922]

mass graves

 

http://i.imgur.com/GEaivpe.png

 

I also like the wrecked cars traffic jam idea. The road from Cherno to Balota would be a nice location for this, since Balota was the main evacuation point.

[Jex 1104]

yes I am agree 100% what you say :thumbsup:  ;)

 

Original Chernarus map is #1 true classic beautiful map in history of gaming

 

big countryside area making fantastic atmosphere and feel of be lost in wilderness

 

GONE IS DAYS WHEN YOU RUN FOR 30 MINUTE LOOK FOR TOWN BUT DONT MANAGE :o

 

GONE IS CONTRAST OF DIFFERENT AMBIENT FEEL OF TOWN AND WILDERNESS  

 

now is like silly map losing soul losing realism is like some person in dev team is addict for fucking town design :huh:

 

I agree make bigger the cherno elektro etc

 

I agree make few more town in North

 

but now is time for stop and focus on open all the closed building and improve interior what is there give every town character and unique identity :(

 

this stupid boring multi town same style every building repeat is destroy map what was almost the perfect map for dayz > :(

 

when we play mod NOBODY WAS ASK FOR MORE TOWN :|

 

I think they forgot what is special feeling to be lost in forest and farm lands look for supplies Is make me sad they losing control of original vision <_<

 

I agree with you on Chernarus, an amazingly made map that gave you a real sense you were there. A couple more towns would have been enough and you're right, nobody was asking for more towns, just more enterable buildings - now it's just got to the point where there's too many towns, as if running through 10,000 buildings is more fun that running through 1000 buildings. Sorry, buildings of boring aren't a recipe for success but unique locations are and Pobeda Dam is ruined, taken away and then replaced with a crappier version and looks as though it's in another town of boring.

[DocWolf 146]

I know that probably The Walking Dead is DayZ version of Godwin's Law...but honestly, look at the effort the director(s) put in building a semi-believable environment for their post-apocalyptic, post-pandemic world.

• Graffiti and writings on the walls for missing loved ones ("Brian Heriot we're at home meet us don't go home we love you Brian")
• Assorted junk, plastic bags and newspapers on the streets
• Dirty cars, leaves on the pavement, weather-damaged posters/billboards
• Makeshift memorials from the very beginning of the pandemic
• Abandoned police and military check points, ruined emergency services' relief centers
• Makeshift billboards giving directions for loved ones ("Erin, we tried Stone Mountain")
• Buildings or areas "reinforced" or walled off by the authorities during pandemic
• Blood and dirt inside the buildings
• Rows and rows of cars gridlocked bumper to bumper trying to flee cities
• Car crashes involving several vehicles

 

Generally speaking the environment easily show that society collapsed, and collapsed bad. Quarantine and evacuations were implemented and failed. People were fleeing without being able to reunite with their friends or families. There were a lot of violent actions, either by the government or the citizens (or both) trying to keep the infection problem at bay...you know this even if the show don't tell you so because you can see the consequences of this events. Everything is run-down, dilapidated, and convey a distinct sense of depression (except for lawns and gardens, for some reason they're always cured even after a year of post-apocalyptic abandonement).

 

In DayZ the map, gameplay-wise, is really fine as it is. Ok, adding some more cities or towns could be interesting - no need to go postal on that. There's plenty of wilderness around Chernarus. But one of the top priorities for the map team should be starting to work on a proper aesthetic of the apocalypse. They should start adding progressively more stuff that give players the feeling of being  in a dead world. Chernarus collapsed months (a year?) ago, and there should be some kind of visual remind of that tragedy. At the moment walking in Chernarus is a beautiful experience (seriously beautiful, considering we're in alpha stage), but everything seems a simple movie prop. You walk in Novo and it seems you're walking in the hollywood prop of an abandoned east-european town; you run down the coast and it seems you're in a tv set depicting a cold war region. Everything is too clean, too empty to actually look as the leftovers of an apocalypse.

Edited November 7, 2014 by DocWolf

[Whyherro123 2283]

I know that probably The Walking Dead is DayZ version of Godwin's Law...but honestly, look at the effort the director(s) put in building a semi-believable environment for their post-apocalyptic, post-pandemic world.

• Graffiti and writings on the walls for missing loved ones ("Brian Heriot we're at home meet us don't go home we love you Brian")
• Assorted junk, plastic bags and newspapers on the streets
• Dirty cars, leaves on the pavement, weather-damaged posters/billboards
• Makeshift memorials from the very beginning of the pandemic
• Abandoned police and military check points, ruined emergency services' relief centers
• Makeshift billboards giving directions for loved ones ("Erin, we tried Stone Mountain")
• Buildings or areas "reinforced" or walled off by the authorities during pandemic
• Blood and dirt inside the buildings
• Rows and rows of cars gridlocked bumper to bumper trying to flee cities
• Car crashes involving several vehicles

 

Generally speaking the environment easily show that society collapsed, and collapsed bad. Quarantine and evacuations were implemented and failed. People were fleeing without being able to reunite with their friends or families. There were a lot of violent actions, either by the government or the citizens (or both) trying to keep the infection problem at bay...you know this even if the show don't tell you so because you can see the consequences of this events. Everything is run-down, dilapidated, and convey a distinct sense of depression (except for lawns and gardens, for some reason they're always cured even after a year of post-apocalyptic abandonement).

 

In DayZ the map, gameplay-wise, is really fine as it is. Ok, adding some more cities or towns could be interesting - no need to go postal on that. There's plenty of wilderness around Chernarus. But one of the top priorities for the map team should be starting to work on a proper aesthetic of the apocalypse. They should start adding progressively more stuff that give players the feeling of being  in a dead world. Chernarus collapsed months (a year?) ago, and there should be some kind of visual remind of that tragedy. At the moment walking in Chernarus is a beautiful experience (seriously beautiful, considering we're in alpha stage), but everything seems a simple movie prop. You walk in Novo and it seems you're walking in the hollywood prop of an abandoned east-european town; you run down the coast and it seems you're in a tv set depicting a cold war region. Everything is too clean, too empty to actually look as the leftovers of an apocalypse.

That is just the thing: we DON'T know how long ago society collapsed. The in-game info is rather schizophrenic, and suggests multiple timeframes.

 

-Tropical/semi-tropical fruit (bannana, kiwi, oranges) being found in good condition. Without international trade, how would these fruits get there? This suggests a week AT MOST

-Garden plots with ripe pumpkins. These guys are only really good for 2 weeks on the vine, then they start to rot. (Generally, they can last until the 1st frost, which happens mid-November in New England) They also are "good" in mid-late October. This suggests 2 weeks.

-neatly kept lawns. Yes, there are lots where there is tall grass, but those appear to be abandoned lots. I have to cut my lawn about once a month (I just did, actually, last week, so grass is still growing in November), and I live in an analogous climate/latitude to Chernarus, so this suggests it can't have been more than a month.

-On the other hand, we have rusted hulks of vehicles. Now, any car with a decent paint job will take some time to rust over, so this suggests it has been some time until they started to rust. 6 months?

 

I, however, currently enjoy the state of Chernarus. I find the sense of desolation and loneliness to be far more effective at setting the mood (and frightening) than massive chunks blasted out of buildings, fires everywhere, etc. What I would like to see, is more of a sense of "run-down" -ness, if you will.

 

Take, for example, sewer systems. IRL, most sewer systems require near constant pumping to keep them both full of, and free of, water. Without those pumps, the sewers will overflow and streets will fill with water. This is especially a concern when the sewer is near/next to a river (AKA Svetlo, Novo, and Severograd). The streets in those cities should be waist-deep in water (especially Novo, being at the exact bottom of 3 mountain valleys). This would make looting those cities MUCH more interesting.

 

More "run-down"-ness could come from broken windows, broken-off doors, downed trees across powerlines, roads cracked open from flooded water mains, etc. The last would be of tactical importance to vehicles, as they would have to be very careful driving through cities, slowing down to avoid getting stuck. This would give other survivors a chance to ambush them.

[DocWolf 146]

Well, even if the pandemic ran its course just one week before our first log in...there should be something that suggest collapse of society.

At the moment Chernarus look a lot like Pripyat - a place hastily evacuated and abandoned. But we're not speaking of a city here, playable Chernarus is supposed to be a country...or at least a significative slice of the in-universe country of Chernarus. You can't evaquate such areas cleanly and quickly. I'm fine with almost empty houses (most things would be looted anyway), but we should have at least some visual clue of what happened. Some examples:

 

• there's a Forward Operating Base near Myshkino, and military vehicles on civilian airfields. Those things are not deployed during peacetime, so there was time to declare a state of emergency. Why we don't see police cars blocking (some) streets, miltiary and police (abandoned) checkpoints, posters and billboards speaking (in cyrillic) of the emergency, the plague and such?
• there's a beached, wrecked cargo ship between two moderately urbanized areas. Unless Rify was beached at the very end of the emergency or after society collapse, there should be something that shows Chernarus emergency services responded to such a disaster. Maybe (ruined) ambulances abandoned on the road, some (empty) tents on the beach, even a couple of (ruined) tv vans around
• even if there was a very short struggle against the pandemic and the proverbial crap hit the fan in just a few days, even if there wasn't any coordinated answer to the plague both nationally or internationally...where are all the cars fleeing urban areas? Where are all car wrecks? Where are the buses abandoned at the side of the road (hopefully with an ominous, bloody handprint somewhere)? Why there is not at least one (non accessible) passenger train somewhere, with cracked glasses and pools of dried blood outside?
• there are western military helicopters and military vehicles around Chernarus, even UN blue helmets and berets. This could  suggest an international effort to control the pandemic (or maybe not). Where are NATO/UN mobile headquarters, where are western armed forces bases?

 

Even if the visuals of this game is amazing, leaving Chernarus in the current state is such a waste of potential. Even small additions, like graffiti on the walls commemorating/calling for loved ones, makeshift cardboards/signs giving direction to stranded relatives or improvised memorials like the 28 Days Later I've posted here could help A LOT to set the right tone of the environment.

 

 

Edited November 7, 2014 by DocWolf

[Whyherro123 2283]

Well, even if the pandemic ran its course just one week before our first log in...there should be something that suggest collapse of society.

At the moment Chernarus look a lot like Pripyat - a place hastily evacuated and abandoned. But we're not speaking of a city here, playable Chernarus is supposed to be a country...or at least a significative slice of the in-universe country of Chernarus. You can't evaquate such areas cleanly and quickly. I'm fine with almost empty houses (most things would be looted anyway), but we should have at least some visual clue of what happened. Some examples:

 

• there's a Forward Operating Base near Myshkino, and military vehicles on civilian airfields. Those things are not deployed during peacetime, so there was time to declare a state of emergency. Why we don't see police cars blocking (some) streets, miltiary and police (abandoned) checkpoints, posters and billboards speaking (in cyrillic) of the emergency, the plague and such?
• there's a beached, wrecked cargo ship between two moderately urbanized areas. Unless Rify was beached at the very end of the emergency or after society collapse, there should be something that shows Chernarus emergency services responded to such a disaster. Maybe (ruined) ambulances abandoned on the road, some (empty) tents on the beach, even a couple of (ruined) tv vans around
• even if there was a very short struggle against the pandemic and the proverbial crap hit the fan in just a few days, even if there wasn't any coordinated answer to the plague both nationally or internationally...where are all the cars fleeing urban areas? Where are all car wrecks? Where are the buses abandoned at the side of the road (hopefully with an ominous, bloody handprint somewhere)? Why there is not at least one (non accessible) passenger train somewhere, with cracked glasses and pools of dried blood outside?
• there are western military helicopters and military vehicles around Chernarus, even UN blue helmets and berets. This could  suggest an international effort to control the pandemic (or maybe not). Where are NATO/UN mobile headquarters, where are western armed forces bases?

 

Even if the visuals of this game is amazing, leaving Chernarus in the current state is such a waste of potential. Even small additions, like graffiti on the walls commemorating/calling for loved ones, makeshift cardboards/signs giving direction to stranded relatives or improvised memorials like the 28 Days Later I've posted here could help A LOT to set the right tone of the environment.

 

 

Technically, we already have the last ones, look at the round concrete pillars in many towns. You see medical notices, official "zombie!" posters, and what are presumably hand-written notes to people.

 

As for the rest, look up "horror vs terror". As well as thinking about: if the TSC was already undergoing, there probably wasn't any EMS to arrive at the crashed ship. If a society is going to collapse (AKA Total Societal Collapse,  : P), then by definition there is nothing to turn to. 

 

On a side note, I wondered why the ship crashed there, and why there wasn't a lighthouse to warn off ships. This, to me, screams that the ship was "dead" (adrift, etc) AFTER the TSC, and washed ashore. The current state (rusted to hell) supports this idea, because, like you said above, if it happened pre-TSC, EMS would've been all over it.

[Bonappetit 117]

What I would like to see is, lets say a year after the official release, that they make a few touches on the buildings like degradation, cities with overgrown grass etc. just so we can feel how time is passing and effecting the Chernarus.

[saamohod 45]

>Do we really need more towns?
NO!

[Duenan 226]

As others have said- make the atmosphere  more unique.

 

Some of the lone farmhouses should have like loads of cars and hastily made barricades as if some surviors made last stands there.

 

Random buildings should be burnt out husks and maybe whole city blocks and be burnt out destroyed buildings.

 

Show car accidents - cars rammed into buildings, car accidents in weird places. Gridlock outside the cities.

 

Show events that took place like maybe a shot up car in the middle of a dirt road in the wilderness.

 

Show empty graves that weren't even filled.

 

Empty aid relief places and quaratine zones completely with Mess tents, sleeping quarters, porto potties and things like big piles of clothings and other items that had to be sorted or discarded from incoming refugees.

 

OVERGROWTH- Put vines and bushes growing inside houses and things.

 

Some parts of Cities should be flooded or covered in mud from ruptured pipes and septic tanks

 

In short- look at The last of us. Thats the best game I can think of when it comes to atmosphere in a post apocalyptic setting.

 

***IMPORTANT** ADD IN CROWS and rotted bodies. There is nothing more desolate feeling than swarming carrion birds in a bleak run down area.

 

At this point the art team should be focusing on thematics and atmosphere- you can add in other zombs and guns later

[ld-airgrafix 403]

Well im always for more towns, buildings etc. Am i for the existing buildings, hell no. I wouldnt mind some variety, eg in the mod lingor map, there are some nice african/arabic buildings. Perhaps they can introduce a different environment such as as desert where these buildings would go so nicely