different speed "modes" for our actions: from cautious/slow but silent to fast/hasty but noisy

[joe_mcentire 2073]

Long time ago i made a post on reddit about time: "it's about time" - or why we should give "time" more weight with the idea that the

 

"right" amount of time every action and task may demand could change the whole gameplay.

the idea back then was to stop any animation at will so that you would need a dynamic amount of time for every action. (eating fills a %-bar, if you'd stop the animation, the bar would halt at the current level e.g.)

 

/u/rocket2guns responded to this bascially saying:

One thing to remember is that computers don't function like humans. Computers are great at doing something now. If you want them to do something over time then they have to do a few things:

• monitor the time
• remember that they are supposed to be doing something
• constantly broadcast how they have done with that

With a large world, this becomes very taxing on the server, clients, and bandwidth. DayZ SA, by necessity, has been developed as much "event driven" as it can be. Instead of using scripted mechanisms, things happen based on events.

full link here: Rocket comments

 

So basically things that consume a "dynamic" amount of time are (at the moment) too taxing and demanding for the already stressed server.

However, i'd like to use this opportunity to make maybe a much easier and straight forward suggestion (hopefully my understanding and assumptions are correct):

 

(at least two or) more different modes for different actions. two or more types which can be used in any given situation,

• the normal animation: takes a defined amount of time X (as before) and a moderate amount of noise, normal effectivitiy/chance to succeed

• the slow animation: takes a defined amount of time Y > X and causes a lot less noise. can be used in ambush or general stealth/sneak situations, higher effectivity/chance to succeed

• the fast animation: takes a defined amount of time Z < X and causes a good deal more noise. can be used in getaway situations or general situations where swift reactions are substantial, lower effectivity/chance to succeed

Also for the sake of simplicity we could assume that each action with its set of different speed modes would require the exactly same animation which would only vary in its processing speed. Also an alternative: get rid of e.g. normal and provide just slow (as a default) and fast animation modes.

Things to consider: fixed/constant processing-times, no dynamic time - everything fully deterministic, only one animation per action which only varies in its processing speed

 

The idea is to give more freedom to gameplay: do you want to reload your gun cautiously and silently to ambush someone or do you want to just reload as quick as possible to prevail in a standoff situation? Do you want to devour the last pieces of food because you see a torchlight in the distance or did you just hear something in the bushes so better swallow the rest of your meal as silent and careful as possible?

 

to summarize via examples:

• reloading: slow, silent (stealth) vs fast, noisy (standoff)
• open cans: slow, silent and leaves you 90% in can vs fast, noisy leaves you 70%
• picklocking: takes fair amount, with little noise, high chances to be successful vs hasty and tinkling with high chances to be unsuccessful
•  

tl;dr: different speed modes with deterministic "exec-times" for different situations with different benefits and drawbacks.

 

fyi:

 

Cooking is different and is currently designed to function like cooking in project zomboid. Turn the cooker on, put the food inside the thing, and it cooks slowly. The cooking "tick" is checked every few seconds so that performance isn't too badly effected.

- Rocket

Edited November 24, 2014 by joe_mcentire

[threedogification 41]

I like this idea, it seems like it's from state of decay. If I was being chased by bandits, I would want to quickly reload instead of the slow reload that we have now

[joe_mcentire 2073]

I like this idea, it seems like it's from state of decay. If I was being chased by bandits, I would want to quickly reload instead of the slow reload that we have now

i have actually bought State of Decay on summer sale but haven't played more than 10 minutes yet. i think with a proper stealth system in place such an addition would be a game-changer

Edited November 24, 2014 by joe_mcentire

[Troll_Hunter 54]

I don't like it, because I think there are many more important things to do, and such sounds do not carry that far anyway.

 

What I do think however is that most animations are much too slow, like the player has all the time in the world! This is very contrary to the survival situation, where you want to be fast because it is dangerous everywhere and you need to move fast in order to find your next meal.

[joe_mcentire 2073]

Being fast is not always reasonable. Hence i would provide this tradeoff between fast BUT noisy and slow BUT silent.

I think every Addition to more depth in gameplay leading to more variety in tactical choices is worth to be thought about

Edited November 25, 2014 by joe_mcentire

[joe_mcentire 2073]

in addition this approach wouldn't even need a new animation-tree for every action, the same animation tree only accelerated/decelerated might to the trick.