Where is all the food?

[Whyherro123 2283]

 

Maybe the rarity of actual food would be acceptable if there were more plants you could eat, or if there was more fruit on the plants we have now, or if you didn't need such exact kit for hunting and fishing and cooking (really you can only get wood if you have an axe? Why don't you break a tree limb off or pick up sticks? really? you need a knife you butcher your kill? Can't I use this sword?). 

 

Right now the mechanics are not good enough to allow you to live off the land while a fresh spawn. We need canned food back until then so that the game is playable,

1) You can find sticks on "forest floor" terrain, just go into the woods and scroll with the mouse wheel. You will get the option to "search for sticks/kindling" Only thing about sticks + fire is..... kindling tends to burn through quickly. It is more efficient to burn actual wood, and for that you will probably need an axe, as "dead" tree limbs and fallen wood tends to be either rotten or wet, and unsuitable for burning. (free real-world survival tip) 

2) You can cut down bushes with any knife, so long as it is held in your hand. BOOM. More sticks

3) You can't use a sword to butcher meat because swords tend to have the wrong blade-geometry for "slashing" like knives. Swords have edges more  suited for "hacking". Although, I've used hatchets similar to the in-game one for butchering large-game before.

 

As for making kit for hunting and fishing more accessible, check out my thread in the "suggestion" forum about that exact thing.

[Sebidee 167]

Yes, it should be. And it shall.

 

You do realize the game is less than 1/2 the way done, right? 0.55 isn't an indicator of progress out of 1.00......

 

So many mechanics need to be refined.

 

Also, the devs have stated that eventually, time will be rapidly accelerated, along the line of "2 hour days", so the starvation/dehydration times make more sense, as well as travel-times being more realistic.

 

Just....not yet.

 

Yes. I know that the game is not finished.

 

I'm full energized, on a private hive (where the loot seems to be rarer) with 30+ people playing with an AKM, PSO1, around a 100 rounds of 7.62x39, a CR75 with a magazine, enough seeds to keep me fed for days, my major gear pieces are full pristine with the exception of my axe and my buttstock, which are both damaged. I died today, so all this was found within the last 4 or 5 hours.

 

The food (and other loot) exists, when you spawn in spend 10 minutes before you do anything else spamming an apple tree or red berries, I know it's boring but it'll serve you well later then go and get yourself a stone knife, they take up one space and are really useful. Head inland, plan your route to hit as many hunting stands and deer feeders as possible between towns, if you find seeds, particularly pumpkin seeds then hold onto them they are invaluable once you're up in the far reaches away from towns. Do not sprint unless you either have to cross an open area without cover or are taking fire. If you see a police car, they're worth the risk of checking as they're one of the best weapon spawns currently and once you have a gun, you can hunt for food and gut the animals (or players) with your stone knife.

 

I'll try that.

 

I just want to make the point that there is nothing desirable about the way the game is now. Surviving, according to scruffy bandit, requires me to spend a very, very long time picking apples and also relies on me being very lucky and finding specific equipment (farming things) based on the rarity of any item what so ever it will make that very unlikely which means that I will likely need to respawn several times.

 

I just want people to get that spending 20 minutes picking apples every time you respawn, does not make a good game. Having to respawn several times (equalling to several hours of gameplay) just to get past the apple picking stage does not make a good game. And ultimately, suffering through the horror of the apples to probably just get KOSed by some kid certainly does not make a good game,

 

Are people actually capable of seeing that? 

 

 

@WhyHero123,

 

Fuck it, I'll just agree with you. Day z is a perfect game, everything about it's current state is absolutely perfect. I find it amazing that BI somehow managed to achieve this WHEN THE GAME IS LESS THAN HALF WAY TO BEING FINISHED, but somehow they did.

 

You know what, the game is so perfect right now that I hope they stop developing and just leave it the way it is.

 

Thank you why hero, 

Edited April 9, 2015 by Sebidee

[S3V3N 1402]

Yes. I know that the game is not finished.

 

 

I'll try that.

 

I just want to make the point that there is nothing desirable about the way the game is now. Surviving, according to scruffy bandit, requires me to spend a very, very long time picking apples and also relies on me being very lucky and finding specific equipment (farming things) based on the rarity of any item what so ever it will make that very unlikely which means that I will likely need to respawn several times.

 

I really think you should try some different servers. I play on a 30 person server now and although food may be sparce I do still find some. You might also wanna check deerstands (the ones you have to climb a ladder up to). If you find no loot, switch servers. Also, I don't think police cars are the greatest weapon spawns, because 95% are all already looted. Try looking for UAZ wrecks. That's the smaller, more cubelike kind of jeep ^^

 

 Honestly, this update takes things a long way in the right direction. But I don't understand why the devs decided to make the player starving and unhealthy in the beginning. They already decided to give us no starter loot (in any situation like this and with the health as it is when you spawn, I'd expect the survivor to have some gear). At least health and thirst should be kept up when you spawn. It is truly easy for all of us who are at full health to say you are doing something wrong. But I have experienced empty servers like this and almost died myself. At the moment it is too easy for those that are equipped and too hard for those that spawn fresh.

Edited April 9, 2015 by S3V3N

[Sebidee 167]

Honestly, this update takes things a long way in the right direction. But I don't understand why the devs decided to make the player starving and unhealthy in the beginning. They already decided to give us no starter loot (in any situation like this and with the health as it is when you spawn, I'd expect the survivor to have some gear). At least health and thirst should be kept up when you spawn. It is truly easy for all of us who are at full health to say you are doing something wrong. But I have experienced empty servers like this and almost died myself. At the moment it is too easy for those that are equipped and too hard for those that spawn fresh.

 

Thanks man, genuinely. So many people on this forum are unhelpful. The game is very frustrating as a fresh spawn because it's impossible to survive long enough to have any gear. I've died several times in the last week in under 40 minutes because of starvation, insanely quick and strong zombies and KOS. 90% of the time I've had nothing but pants, shoes and the rags that were my t-shirt. 

 

I understand that the game isn't finished and that I will probably love it when it is but I want to be part of the open access and test the new things the devs add during development but I'm unable to do so right now because of the fresh spawn situation. That is incredibly frustrating.

[Whyherro123 2283]

I really think you should try some different servers. I play on a 30 person server now and although food may be sparce I do still find some. You might also wanna check deerstands (the ones you have to climb a ladder up to). If you find no loot, switch servers. Also, I don't think police cars are the greatest weapon spawns, because 95% are all already looted. Try looking for UAZ wrecks. That's the smaller, more cubelike kind of jeep ^^

 

 Honestly, this update takes things a long way in the right direction. But I don't understand why the devs decided to make the player starving and unhealthy in the beginning. They already decided to give us no starter loot (in any situation like this and with the health as it is when you spawn, I'd expect the survivor to have some gear). At least health and thirst should be kept up when you spawn. It is truly easy for all of us who are at full health to say you are doing something wrong. But I have experienced empty servers like this and almost died myself. At the moment it is too easy for those that are equipped and too hard for those that spawn fresh.

I think you spawn in hungry to simulate the idea that it has, in fact, been some time since the "apocalypse" has started. 

 

I do, however, agree with you when it comes to "starter loot". Any self-respecting outdoorsman (which we should count as, as it is, again, obvious that the "apocalypse" happened at least a couple of days/weeks ago), should have at least a knife, a water container, and a means of firestarting on them. It wouldn't be too "gamebreaking" to start out with a small folding knife, a water bottle, and a few (like 10) matches, just to "get you going", as it were.

[soulfirez 901]

Yes. I know that the game is not finished.

 

 

I'll try that.

 

I just want to make the point that there is nothing desirable about the way the game is now. Surviving, according to scruffy bandit, requires me to spend a very, very long time picking apples and also relies on me being very lucky and finding specific equipment (farming things) based on the rarity of any item what so ever it will make that very unlikely which means that I will likely need to respawn several times.

 

I just want people to get that spending 20 minutes picking apples every time you respawn, does not make a good game. Having to respawn several times (equalling to several hours of gameplay) just to get past the apple picking stage does not make a good game. And ultimately, suffering through the horror of the apples to probably just get KOSed by some kid certainly does not make a good game,

 

Are people actually capable of seeing that? 

 

 

@WhyHero123,

 

Fuck it, I'll just agree with you. Day z is a perfect game, everything about it's current state is absolutely perfect. I find it amazing that BI somehow managed to achieve this WHEN THE GAME IS LESS THAN HALF WAY TO BEING FINISHED, but somehow they did.

 

You know what, the game is so perfect right now that I hope they stop developing and just leave it the way it is.

 

Thank you why hero, 

Is it perfect how it stands ?? NO its not but its going in a certain direction and that direction is / and has clearly been said by devs a SURVIVAL  game ... that means there will be at some point a very good chance that the enviroment WILL KILL YOU and you will have to start again and maybe again till you get a start good enough to take off. If it wasnt like that it wouldnt be a SURVIVAL GAME it would be a shooter, and again the devs have stated on many occasions its not a shooter....

 

Picking fruit like that is not currently completely needed you can survive without it BUT it does give you a solid chance of getting started, ask yourself this DO YOU WANT TO SURVIVE or are you just looking for a gun to shoot people???

 

The harsh nature of a survival game is what makes death have consequence , Before you died ran to a mil base and could be back fighting again in 30 to 40min, so a shooter with some survival aspects. Now you may have legit fear of dying.

 

Will this make a good game?? i dont know but will it make a good ANTI GAME ( you know what dayz was touted to be ) i think so but time will tell

[Sebidee 167]

I do, however, agree with you when it comes to "starter loot". Any self-respecting outdoorsman (which we should count as, as it is, again, obvious that the "apocalypse" happened at least a couple of days/weeks ago), should have at least a knife, a water container, and a means of firestarting on them. It wouldn't be too "gamebreaking" to start out with a small folding knife, a water bottle, and a few (like 10) matches, just to "get you going", as it were.

 

Finally, something I can agree with.

[Sebidee 167]

Is it perfect how it stands ?? NO its not but its going in a certain direction and that direction is / and has clearly been said by devs a SURVIVAL  game ... that means there will be at some point a very good chance that the enviroment WILL KILL YOU and you will have to start again and maybe again till you get a start good enough to take off. If it wasnt like that it wouldnt be a SURVIVAL GAME it would be a shooter, and again the devs have stated on many occasions its not a shooter....

 

Picking fruit like that is not currently completely needed you can survive without it BUT it does give you a solid chance of getting started, ask yourself this DO YOU WANT TO SURVIVE or are you just looking for a gun to shoot people???

 

The harsh nature of a survival game is what makes death have consequence , Before you died ran to a mil base and could be back fighting again in 30 to 40min, so a shooter with some survival aspects. Now you may have legit fear of dying.

 

Will this make a good game?? i dont know but will it make a good ANTI GAME ( you know what dayz was touted to be ) i think so but time will tell

 

*Sigh*

 

The game is not finished. I KNOW. But the devs should not break the game during development because then people can't play it.  In time things will be fixed, real survival based on realistic outdoor manship without ready made food items will be possible. BUT IT IS NOT RIGHT NOW. Until they have the proper mechanics in place they should allow food to spawn. Then people can play their game to give feedback, then people will buy their game to fund development. Playability is necessary for early access alpha. 

 

Yes. The environment should kill you, but not in less than 40 minutes. Not when you spawn, live and die with zero equipment. Not because there is no loot. You shouldn't die because you can't find one single item, you should die because of animals, zombies, disease, players and if necessary long, slow starvation. Not 40 minute starvation on speed.

 

If you are to die of starvation then it shouldn't be because there is no food, it should be because you can't get food. Have places where food is stockpiled but fill it with zombies. Then it's not about luck, it's about skill. I'm not saying that's exactly what it should be like, I'm just saying that would be an option that would be preferable to having no food at all.

 

Yes, I want to survive. No, it's not because I want to get a gun and kill people. What I want out of day z is a realistic survival simulator, right now it is not realistic, it is artificially and unnecessarily difficult for no reason.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Sebidee

[S3V3N 1402]

What I never got is why we spawn with a battery and a flashlight. I often take the cattle prod as a first weapon, as most people don't seem to pick them up. But I still don't see why we would get that as starter equipment and not something useful. Like you said WhyHerro, a waterbottle and a small knife would help. I also think some bandages wouldn't hurt, as you get cold very fast now anyway and faster even when you tear your shirt into rags. It's a choice the devs added to either keep warm or have rags. But with the current zombies, you have to have rags; can't take any chance on that. 

 

You can make a flint knife, of course and you can chase and kill chicken with it. I tried it and it worked. The hardest part is finding the chicken, though. You hear them when walking through tall gras on the outskirts of forests. With the knife and something like a duck or chicken you can get pretty far. I think some more wildlife on the coast would be in order. Nothin big and fancy, just a few chicken and domestic pigs, something you can catch up with and kill with a knife or an axe. Of course, then you need a way to make a fire and to roast meat on a stick (which is going to be added soon). Take all of this into account and you will see a silver lining. Things are going to change, but they need to be worked on. Parts of this update were maybe premature and the bugs aren't helping, but I think the purpose was to show the games potential and we are now either painfully aware of it or blissfully happy. I am the latter ;)

Edited April 9, 2015 by S3V3N

[slyder73 94]

Thanks man, genuinely. So many people on this forum are unhelpful. The game is very frustrating as a fresh spawn because it's impossible to survive long enough to have any gear. I've died several times in the last week in under 40 minutes because of starvation, insanely quick and strong zombies and KOS. 90% of the time I've had nothing but pants, shoes and the rags that were my t-shirt. 

 

I understand that the game isn't finished and that I will probably love it when it is but I want to be part of the open access and test the new things the devs add during development but I'm unable to do so right now because of the fresh spawn situation. That is incredibly frustrating.

I've been able to survive just fine on both public and the private servers where loot is VERY VERY rare. 

It does take a LOT of persistence and thinking outside of the box that many players trap themselves into.

 

Apples to get you going, then search in places you didn't before, not just buildings.  I found a full bag of rice at a railcar yesterday. 

 

The most important gear right now is a hoe and pumpkin (or any other) seed plus a bit of water.  You dont' even have to be able to drink the water.  A bottle to fill from a dirty old lake will grow those pumpkins just fine and they both hydrate and energize you. 

 

Weapons and such are a luxury and can make one feel safer but not necessary.  All you need is water, food and a way to avoid being killed by others for said pumpkins.  Run away before they see you or try to fight them off with your hoe or gun if you have it.  Last thing I want to do is fight another player right now.  Too much time invested surviving that I ACTUALLY FEEL like it is a loss to die.

What other game has ever done that for you?

[Mookie (original) 799]

For what this is worth, I'm definitely detecting an upswing in loot (since that mini patch yesterday? Or perhaps as a consequence of a wipe?).

 

Also for what it's worth, some loot is still very tightly tied to locations. If I need an Orel uniform or a pair of handcuffs, there's a particular spot in my neck of the woods where they will always spawn. Since yesterday, the same seems to go for SKSs.

[varobun 19]

The problem with survival is not with the amount of food you will find, but the lack of resources needed to HUNT, FARM, and COOK food.

 

Cooking pots/pans are nearly impossible to find and matches are pretty rare although ive seen them

 

Also since the persistence fixes, the southern coast cities seem to be getting even emptier every minute. Ive checked a building i cleared out 2 days ago and nothing new has respawned at it. The building had like 10 items to start with

Edited April 9, 2015 by varobun

[Sebidee 167]

The problem with survival is not with the amount of food you will find, but the lack of resources needed to HUNT, FARM, and COOK food.

 

Cooking pots/pans are nearly impossible to find and matches are pretty rare although ive seen them

 

Also since the persistence fixes, the southern coast cities seem to be getting even emptier every minute. Ive checked a building i cleared out 2 days ago and nothing new has respawned at it. The building had like 10 items to start with

 

Yeah that's definitely a problem that they need to get round to fixing, here's things I think they should change:

 

Apple Picking

I don't know about you but the idea of picking one apple off a tree just seems insane. Anyone who has had an apple tree in their garden will know that those things produce so many apples that 90% of them will end up rotting on the ground. Also, apples don't need to be ripe to eat. Basically an orchard should be a food goldmine.

 

So, rather than making it rare for apple trees to drop apples they should make orchards rare. Right now there are orchards in most towns and each one has very few apples. Make it so that there are only a few orchards on the map, then you will turn a simple orchard into a pvp zone as dangerous as a military base, which would be fun. I believe that starving should not be possible if you have the balls/skill to face real danger.

 

Hunting

First of all the knife requirement needs to go (unless it has already?). I've killed several animals in my time but never skinned one because I never had a knife on me, even though I had things like fire axes. No one is asking you to cut perfect steaks, just strips of meat. Secondly the ridiculous cooking pot requirement needs to go, when you are able to cook with on a stick then that will be good. It shouldn't be difficult to light a fire either. Matches and cigarette lighters should be common as dirt.

 

You should also have the ability to track animals. It could be an option you get when looking directly at the ground. Scroll and select "track" and you will either get 1) There are no animals nearby, 2) there was an animal here some time ago 3) there is an animal nearby. The three outcomes could be based on how close you are to an animal, you get option 2 if there is one within a 500m radius, and option 3 if there is one in a 100m radius. That would help to make animal hunting less of a lottery.

 

The difficulty with animals is that they should be difficult to kill. Killing a deer, cow or a boar with one shot in the ass is silly! Head or neck shots should be the only way to take it down in one shot. That way you will need to be patient and skill-full to be able to sneak up on an animal to get a good shot. If you miss or get a body shot then the animal should run away, punishing impatient players.

 

Fishing

Fishing should be the easiest way of getting food but also the most boring. Firstly you should not need a shovel to get worms (dig them up with your fingers you pansy) you also should not need a fishing lure, just a bit of wire that you can fashion into a hook. Then with a long stick (avaliable from selecting trees with no axe requirment!) and a rope (very commonly avaliable item) fishing should be possibe. You will not need a gun or anything else, the item requirements should be easy.

 

The drawback with fishing is that it should be boring and take a long time. It will be possible to get food easily enough but the time requirement should be enough to discourage most players who would rather hunt or take on the pvp orchards.

 

Canned food

Canned and preserved food should be very rare in houses since they will already have been picked clean. However, there should be parts of the map where food is stockpiled in large amounts like at supermarkets, refugee camps, the prison, or military camps.

 

The problem should be that each of these places have HORDES of zombies. It should be the most difficult way of getting food but also the most rewarding. If a player can manage to shoot or sneak his way past 200 zombies then he deserves to never be hungry again.

Edited April 9, 2015 by Sebidee

[Whyherro123 2283]

-snip-

1) I do not agree. Apples have a decent amount of water, and a lot of fructose, which is a monosaccharide and easily digested. So, you can eat a lot of apples, stuff yourself, even (so your "hunger" goes away), but you will never eat a balanced diet on just apples. They will keep you going, but eventually malnutrition will set in. 

 

TL:DR you can get full off of apples, but never "energized". 

 

In my "perfect DayZ", you would only be able to get the "energized" status after a while of eating a good, balanced diet: fresh meat, produce, fats and starches. Could you live off canned food? Yes, but with lower levels of energy (due to canned food being high in processed sugars), and eventually lacking in nutrients. Want to get "energized" (and therefore, healthy?)? Learn how to forage from different plants (tubers, flowers, nuts, various weeds high in Vitamin C), as well as how to hunt and trap. The overwhelming majority of people that lived in situations similar to Day Z did so through combinations of farming, foraging, and hunting (lumping hunting, trapping, and fishing together)

 

2) You can make a knife from a stone, found on the ground. It is literally the first thing I do when I spawn in. Opens cans, cuts kindling, skins animals, all without going into town.. I would also much rather cook meat on a hot rock, as less fat and juices are wasted that way. However, I agree with you that both the methods of cooking and firestarting needs to be improved.

 

3) I like the Tracking idea, and I think there should be more animals in general. In New England, we have a "deer problem", where due to the lack of hunting, the local deer population has EXPLODED, to the point where they can wander into cities.

 

However, I think that body-shots should definitely kill animals, just not at once. You shoot a deer through the lungs with an arrow, and then you have to track it for 1+ miles through the woods by following the blood trail.

 

Hunting should also be much more difficult, like how in .54 animals ran away if you stood up within 200m. In the real world, hunting was (and is, even with rifles) very difficult, to the point that most "primitive" cultures had deities based on hunters and hunting. A good-sized deer should be a cause for celebration, not "meh, more food).

 

On the same hand, all animals should provide much more resources, and not only meat. Bones for tools, sinew for bindings, intestines for water containers and sausage, organ meats (high in Vitamins), hides, as well as fucktons of meat. You should be forced to smoke most of the meat of a deer, else it will go bad.

 

4) Again, I agree. Most of the world gets their protein from fish. However, I propose the use of a net, a gill-line, or a harpoon as well as a fishing rod, if just for varieties sake.

 

5) I disagree. Canned food should be rare as fuck. In any real world situation, grocery stores would get wiped clean extremely fast, and the appeal of canned food is the fact that it is preserved until it is opened, not that it is a particularly good food source. Canned food should be a good "backup", if your crops fail or you can't find an animal for a while, but it shouldn't be found in massive stashes. 

 

To me: a "massive stash" of canned food is finding 5 cans in a house out in the woods somewhere.

[albinoclock 45]

Human meat isn't currently causing Kuru and can be safely eaten raw in .55. There is no food shortage, it's just tied up in fresh spawns.

[Sebidee 167]

 

1) I do not agree. Apples have a decent amount of water, and a lot of fructose, which is a monosaccharide and easily digested. So, you can eat a lot of apples, stuff yourself, even (so your "hunger" goes away), but you will never eat a balanced diet on just apples. They will keep you going, but eventually malnutrition will set in. 

 

TL:DR you can get full off of apples, but never "energized". 

 

In my "perfect DayZ", you would only be able to get the "energized" status after a while of eating a good, balanced diet: fresh meat, produce, fats and starches. Could you live off canned food? Yes, but with lower levels of energy (due to canned food being high in processed sugars), and eventually lacking in nutrients. Want to get "energized" (and therefore, healthy?)? Learn how to forage from different plants (tubers, flowers, nuts, various weeds high in Vitamin C), as well as how to hunt and trap. The overwhelming majority of people that lived in situations similar to Day Z did so through combinations of farming, foraging, and hunting (lumping hunting, trapping, and fishing together)

 

2) You can make a knife from a stone, found on the ground. It is literally the first thing I do when I spawn in. Opens cans, cuts kindling, skins animals, all without going into town.. I would also much rather cook meat on a hot rock, as less fat and juices are wasted that way. However, I agree with you that both the methods of cooking and firestarting needs to be improved.

 

3) I like the Tracking idea, and I think there should be more animals in general. In New England, we have a "deer problem", where due to the lack of hunting, the local deer population has EXPLODED, to the point where they can wander into cities.

 

However, I think that body-shots should definitely kill animals, just not at once. You shoot a deer through the lungs with an arrow, and then you have to track it for 1+ miles through the woods by following the blood trail.

 

Hunting should also be much more difficult, like how in .54 animals ran away if you stood up within 200m. In the real world, hunting was (and is, even with rifles) very difficult, to the point that most "primitive" cultures had deities based on hunters and hunting. A good-sized deer should be a cause for celebration, not "meh, more food).

 

On the same hand, all animals should provide much more resources, and not only meat. Bones for tools, sinew for bindings, intestines for water containers and sausage, organ meats (high in Vitamins), hides, as well as fucktons of meat. You should be forced to smoke most of the meat of a deer, else it will go bad.

 

4) Again, I agree. Most of the world gets their protein from fish. However, I propose the use of a net, a gill-line, or a harpoon as well as a fishing rod, if just for varieties sake.

 

5) I disagree. Canned food should be rare as fuck. In any real world situation, grocery stores would get wiped clean extremely fast, and the appeal of canned food is the fact that it is preserved until it is opened, not that it is a particularly good food source. Canned food should be a good "backup", if your crops fail or you can't find an animal for a while, but it shouldn't be found in massive stashes. 

 

To me: a "massive stash" of canned food is finding 5 cans in a house out in the woods somewhere.

 

 

1) That's not really what I was saying about apples. I'm not talking about thier nutritional value, I'm talking about thier distribution. Right now we have many apple trees but few apples. It should be the other way around with few apples trees and many apples. When you see an apple tree you should know that there definitely will be food, however, having specific places on the map with good loot will inevitably cause players to congregate making apple orchards very dangerous. That's something I think would be great.

 

 

2) I agree that you should have a balanced died. Eat the right things and you should shoot straghter, run faster, hit harder and survive more serious injury. But that's not what I'm talking about here, I'm talking about avoiding starvation. You should be able to live but in a weakened state from eating only one kind of food. Again, this rewards good players but does not necessarily fatally punish bad players which is how I think the game should be.

 

3) I don't know much about stone knives, how do you get them? (In case you're wondering I don't get a lot of time to play and have been particularly busy for the the last few updates).

 

4) Agree with you about the animals. Making the necessary equipment rare and making animals rare is a lazy way of making hunting difficult. It should be all about shooting and sneaking, not luck.

 

5) Yeah, more ways of fishing would be good. And again, don't make it difficult just by making the needed loot rare. Make it difficult because of the patience required to sit there at the edge of a pond.

 

6) No, no, no, no. That's not what I said. The stockpiles are SURROUNDED by zombies. That is the reason they are left untouched. I think it would such a cool feature in the game to have zombie hotspots where they are particularly concentrated and guarding some kind of rare loot. It would be like a mini game. Have you ever watched the walking dead? Whenever they need something specific they always need to go somewhere and fight zombies. I would love for that to be a feature in Day z as well.

 

Actually getting to the massive stash should be extremely difficult. I'm talking hundreds of zombies inside and outside of the building. It would be a job for multiple players with high grade weapons and a lot of coordination. It would not be easy.

 

Doesn't that sound like a more satisfying way of suddenly getting a lot of food than just stumbling across it in the woods?

Edited April 9, 2015 by Sebidee

[Whyherro123 2283]

 

 

 

 

1) That's not really what I was saying about apples. I'm not talking about thier nutritional value, I'm talking about thier distribution. Right now we have many apple trees but few apples. It should be the other way around with few apples trees and many apples. When you see an apple tree you should know that there definitely will be food, however, having specific places on the map with good loot will inevitably cause players to congregate making apple orchards very dangerous. That's something I think would be great.

 

 

2) I agree that you should have a balanced died. Eat the right things and you should shoot straghter, run faster, hit harder and survive more serious injury. But that's not what I'm talking about here, I'm talking about avoiding starvation. You should be able to live but in a weakened state from eating only one kind of food. Again, this rewards good players but does not necessarily fatally punish bad players which is how I think the game should be.

 

3) I don't know much about stone knives, how do you get them? (In case you're wondering I don't get a lot of time to play and have been particularly busy for the the last few updates).

 

4) Agree with you about the animals. Making the necessary equipment rare and making animals rare is a lazy way of making hunting difficult. It should be all about shooting and sneaking, not luck.

 

5) Yeah, more ways of fishing would be good. And again, don't make it difficult just by making the needed loot rare. Make it difficult because of the patience required to sit there at the edge of a pond.

 

6) No, no, no, no. That's not what I said. The stockpiles are SURROUNDED by zombies. That is the reason they are left untouched. I think it would such a cool feature in the game to have zombie hotspots where they are particularly concentrated and guarding some kind of rare loot. It would be like a mini game. Have you ever watched the walking dead? Whenever they need something specific they always need to go somewhere and fight zombies. I would love for that to be a feature in Day z as well.

 

Actually getting to the massive stash should be extremely difficult. I'm talking hundreds of zombies inside and outside of the building. It would be a job for multiple players with high grade weapons and a lot of coordination. It would not be easy.

 

Doesn't that sound like a more satisfying way of suddenly getting a lot of food than just stumbling across it in the woods?

 

1) Now I understand your point a little better, but I still don't agree. I would like to see apples and berries (and eventually, ALL foragable plants) have a "finite" supply, where you can only find a few apples/berries/nuts/tubers per plant searched, and that is it. Automatic success, but not a "game-breaking" amount of food/material.

 

So, you see an apple tree, run up and strip it bare, and now you have enough food in your stomach to live another day. The survivor that comes along behind you, however, is SOL. Whoever gets there first gets the goods. 

 

Besides, as far as I can remember right now, actual apple orchards in Chernarus appear to be relatively rare. I can only think of 4 right off the top of my head: Berezino, 2 in Niznhoye, and Zelenogorsk (if you know of any others, let me know). Most apple trees are either singular or in small groups by houses.

 

2) Malnutrition should punish "bad" players, because in the environment that Chernarus is located in, "wild" food would be extremely plentiful, to the point where any player with eyes and a brain would be capable of eating a balanced diet on foraging alone. Cat-tails along streams, various berries in the woods, "weeds" in fields, Would it take a while, and not be as exciting as braving the cities? Maybe (I would find it fun), but that is why you start a farm (for long-term food supply), etc etc etc.

 

Seriously, in real life, one cat-tail tuber would seriously fill you up, and keep you going for a long time (being made of starch and all. Cat-tails actually contain more starch than potatoes, for the interested). All the devs need to do is add more plants (and the actual models for many edible/useful species are ALREADY IN THE GAME), and we could actually be hunter-gatherers.

 

As for requiring certain tools, I agree: we should be able to improvise literally everything we need to survive. Need a shovel/hoe,etc to make a garden plot? Take a sturdy stick in hand and go to town (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digging_stick) Need an "ashwood stick" to make a bow/fishing rod? Take a knife, walk up to a tree, and saw off a branch. Need to make a fire? Take two sticks and rub them together, really hard and fast! Would these be as effective as "modern" equipment? Maybe, but it  should be possible.

 

3) To make a stone knife, go to any section of ground that looks "rocky" (not with actual stones jutting from the ground, but all gravelly). I prefer beaches, but the shores of ponds/streams, the sides of roads, and railroad basements all work as well. Look at the gravelly part, scroll with the mouse-wheel, and you will get the option to "search for stones". This has a "failure chance", just like apples and berries, so it might take a few tries, but keep it up. Once you have several in your inventory, take one  "in your hands", and scroll the mouse-wheel again, to "make a stone knife" (or something). It also has a failure chance, but eventually you will make easily the most useful item in the game.

 

6) Again, now I see where you are going, but I still disagree. Why would the stashes be surrounded by zombies? Remember, they aren't "mindless zombies" per se. Instead, think of them as animals: willing to check out a strange noise/sight, but if there isn't anything there, they have stuff to do (search for food, drink, sleep [which, I admit, we don't see them do in-game, but still]) and so they will fuck off eventually if something doesn't peak their interest. A single survivalist sitting on a stashe won't keep them occupied for long. An airbase full of people, while it will occupy them longer, eventually will run out of  "interesting things", and so the massive horde that congregated there in the first place will disperse eventually. This is what happened at all the airbases in-game, once the civilians and military forces were evacuated, the "zombies" that followed them left to do other things, and the few "zombies" we find at the airfield are just the ones that haven't left yet.

 

With the recently-added ability of zombies to "roam", my theory holds even more weight. Now they just have to be able to "roam" across the entire map.

[irl-calibre 744]

where is all the food? burnt, ruined & lying on the ground SCREW YOU OVEN!! *shakes fist*

 

[Whyherro123 2283]

where is all the food? burnt, ruined & lying on the ground SCREW YOU OVEN!! *shakes fist*

 

The reason food is burning when you try to cook it is rather simple, actually: by putting it "inside" the inventory spots of the fire, you are essentially throwing your food right onto the coals of the fire. The "inventory slots" of a fireplace/stone oven is where you put the wood for burning. You need to combine the fireplace with either a tripod or a stone oven, then with a pot or a frying pan. You put the food in the frying pan.

 

I wish we could roast meat by throwing it on a stick or a hot rock by the fire, but the "system" the devs implemented above is actually rather ingenious, and realistic. When you understand how it works, it makes sense. They just didn't make it all that obvious when the cooking mechanics were changed.

[Deathlove 2286]

I wish we could roast meat by throwing it on a stick or a hot rock by the fire, but the "system" the devs implemented above is actually rather ingenious, and realistic. When you understand how it works, it makes sense. They just didn't make it all that obvious when the cooking mechanics were changed.

Would be nice if were were able to cook our own shish kaBobs to.

 

We currently have all the vegetables to make this minus the onions which i do hope they put onions in the game.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Deathlove

[Sebidee 167]

Turns out I was playing on the broken servers that had zero loot. I was also very unlucky to get 5 of them in a row too. Finally found a working one and there is some food inland. All good then.

 

I think the pot and frying pan requirement for cooking is pretty silly. You just want to make so that the food doesn't kill you, not cook a 5 star meal.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Sebidee

[that1n00b 7]

In all the public servers I've played on, the food (and everything else) spawns in the toilets. Some is elsewhere (houses are pretty bare but not 100% empty). Need to gear up fast? Find an outhouse. lol

[Sebidee 167]

In all the public servers I've played on, the food (and everything else) spawns in the toilets. Some is elsewhere (houses are pretty bare but not 100% empty). Need to gear up fast? Find an outhouse. lol

 

Wow, talk about indigestion. amiright?

[that1n00b 7]

Wow, talk about indigestion. amiright?

It's a precautionary measure, I'm sure. We all know what can happen when you eat a damaged, 10y/o can of spaghetti-o's! Probably the same reason that guns and ammo are spawning there, just in case the toilet isn't providing the desired relief, you can end your suffering.

[cage53 56]

I agree with the OP. I've played 8-10 hours in the last couple of days and have found zero food and have starved to death 3 times. It is a challenge trying not to starve to death but that does gets old quick.I think I'm now on my fourth starvation death but logged off due to boredom and knowing the inevitable. If I even thought there could be a can of beans around the next corner I would keep on going but on this update I know there isn't. So on the coast I do the apple picking thing and check 5 or 6 trees to get one apple. I look at the orchard size and calculate the odds and decide that foraging for apples as a viable way of sustaining myself is out of the question. I head inland as soon as I get my bearings but still find no food. I find other things, enough to keep me from freezing or dying of thirst...but no food. I've always liked this game and I like where it's going. I understand the 'alpha' thing and am not a new player so s/can the newbie advice. I will still play and will wait for .56 but the OP has a valid point.