Beautiful game, but screen-greying?

[Wookieenoob 191]

i have some issues here. while i'm not exactly new to this effect, i feel like it wastes a lot of the game's potential and first impression value. i'll elaborate. 

 

if the screen-greying system isn't changed before full release i think it would be a mistake. 

 

ArmA is one of the most pretty games about. it's not particularly new, or even the most detailed game, models-wise, but it just has a unique spark.  

 

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current health system:

 

12,000 healthpoints. seems very arbitrary to me, and the screen starts to go grey and blurry (and you can't see 10ft) at probably more than half health, but if you even have a couple of hits you start to lose some of the game's beauty. 

 

methods of gaining health when playing alone:

 

1hp/second 

3hp/second if fully energised and hydrated 

 

i feel like solo players should be able to self-blood bag. maybe add a blood-bag/drip stand that people can set up and use, withdrawing blood for later and then using it when they need it. 

 

 

this means that if you are shot and survive with around 6000 blood or get mauled by some zombies to 6000 blood it would take you a minimum of half an hour to restore your health, and up to 100 minutes of normal regen.

 

this sounds fine and for ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES IT IS. it's just that the pairing of the lowered health with this screen blurring effect so gradually (as in; you can really see the effects after bleeding for a few seconds) that lets it down. i think that the grey screen should only come when you are at VERY low health. the screen blurring and weapon sway from pain should come whenever you get damage and don't use painkillers or a splint. 

 

 

 

reasoning: 

 

the screen blurring is a fairly good effect. i've noticed it can come with very little actual damage as long as you get hit a couple of times in the same place. it's fine if you look at just this one effect.

 

the problem i see is that the screen greying forces several things on you. 

 

 colourblind for hours

 

this has always felt like a big problem to me. so much of the gameworld is so colourful and bright but when you have any amount of screen greying you can't really see what's going on and everything becomes very bland. this also has a psychological effect on the player. i definitely have more motivation to do things ingame when everything's so nice and bright. again, the greying ruins the visual experience. 

 

 

TLDR;  those are my two cents on how greying should be reduced in prominence so that it only appears sub-3000 blood or something, but screen blurring and weapon shake from damage require more direct attention, and players should probably be able to self-blood bag with specific extra equipment. 

 

 

 

 

as a big note, new players when the game is released will obviously take damage a lot. so they will see the lower health status a lot. this could hurt anyone who doesn't have ARMA experience's opinion of the game. 

 

since the current number of zombies is nothing compared to what we are probably expecting, i'd think everyone would end up seeing this effect a lot in the finished product. first impressions count, and if your first impression of the game is being blind for two hours (because a new player wouldn't know about hydration/energised statuses being heal buffs) you might not even come back. 

Edited February 25, 2015 by Wookieenoob

[mercules 1290]

I've  never been at a grey screen for more than 15 minutes. It's not hard. 

 

 

When someone has low blood pressure your vision really does "grey out" in real life. Pilots encounter it a good deal when pulling too many Gs and not getting enough oxygen to their brain. 

[Wookieenoob 191]

I've  never been at a grey screen for more than 15 minutes. It's not hard. 

 

 

When someone has low blood pressure your vision really does "grey out" in real life. Pilots encounter it a good deal when pulling too many Gs and not getting enough oxygen to their brain. 

 

that wasn't really my point. sure, when you're very good at the game or have plenty of supplies it's very easy. but imagine you never played ARMA or the dayz standalone, and bought it on release day.

 

i didn't say i thought the effect should be removed, but i said it should be harder to get the full "grey" effect, since people who perhaps aren't so good would end up in this state regularly, and since the game already forces you into long periods of general colourblindness (night) i don't see any need for the extra level of grey in there. 

 

 

this is a post that considers perhaps an "average" player's experience would benefit from being able to maintain their visual experience even though they have taken light-medium damage. (assuming they control the screen blurring and weapon shake with splints or painkillers)

Edited February 25, 2015 by Wookieenoob

[Warhoax 63]

 since the game already forces you into long periods of general colourblindness (night) i don't see any need for the extra level of grey in there. 

 

Feel free to use arguments, but that simply ain't true. 80% of the servers are only daytime and never have nighttime.

There's no "Force in long periods of night", if you don't want it.

[Wookieenoob 191]

Feel free to use arguments, but that simply ain't true. 80% of the servers are only daytime and never have nighttime.

There's no "Force in long periods of night", if you don't want it.

 

i see plenty of servers on night, but okay. 

[dddJewelsbbb 3]

12,000 healthpoints. seems very arbitrary to me, and the screen starts to go grey and blurry (and you can't see 10ft) at probably more than half health, but if you even have a couple of hits you start to lose some of the game's beauty. 

 

Well, the standalone has 5,000 blood. Which means if you're fully hydrated and energized, that grey screen goes away in...

*pulls out calculator*

...

27.7 minutes from 1 blood.

 

Yeah, it's annoying, I guess, but if you ask me, it beats the old system of staying black and white for several hours if you don't have someone to bloodbag you. I feel like the beauty of the game exists in the fact that the beautiful, full-blood saturation of color lets you know you're in the clear. What's more horrifying than running around seeing black and white praying that your captor doesn't catch you, and that you don't pass out in the process of finding a place to lay low?

[rooneye 135]

You can get rid of the blur in the options too i believe. The blurring is way worse than the greying IMO.