DayZ is a game of multiple inconsistencies across clients

[Bororm 1156]

So I was recently thinking about how I stopped trusting any sort of concealment in this game quite a long time ago (in the mod) as people playing with different settings see things differently.  The cover you might think you have in a pine or bush when you're playing with full foliage may as well be transparent for those on low settings.  What I began to think about last night was all the inconsistencies between clients due to both settings and bugs, that pretty much result in nobody actually experiencing the same thing the majority of the time.  A lot of these things are being addressed as they're due to bugs/lag, but others I think should be standardized like foliage.  I figured I'd make a bit of a list:

 

1)  Graphic settings:  Turning your grass/trees to low gives you a vastly different experience than turning them on max.  I personally run with mine on full grass/trees, because I don't want my game to look like shit and I'd feel like a sleeze ball to change it just to get an advantage.  However, the reality is that most people turn theirs down on purpose.  There's also those who can't help it due to their performance.  Shadows also play into it, along with object detail and all sorts of other settings.  Basically the higher your settings, the harder time you'll generally have actually seeing people.  Either way, I think a standard should be set and I hope they can do something with the new renderer to work on it.  

 

2)  Desync/lag:  General desync and lag cause other players to perform animations/stances they actually aren't.  This was addressed recently to an extent, but the other day I still saw a prone player sliding around who was undoubtedly actually sprinting.  There's also just general rubberbanding, and normal lag.  A player will probably be turning/moving/performing an action on his end well before it actually registers for you.  It's pretty common to have situations where you spray some one down at the same time they do you, you die and think "bullshit!" as you see them keep going, only to have your friend check and tell you "oh you got him too."  General lag issues are probably here to stay, stance/animations are hopefully going to be cleaned up further (at least I haven't seen anyone dancing lately).

 

3)  Sounds:  This has supposedly been addressed but I haven't noticed any difference.  "Did you hear that shot?" "no" "it was right by us."  The inconsistency between hearing sounds and especially shots is ridiculous.  Beyond that bug, there's the general inconsistency between headsets/speakers and what have you.  The latter probably can't really be helped, but perhaps a boost in important sounds or more sliders would be useful.  There's people who will hear your footsteps a long way off just because they've got a better setup.

 

There's likely a few more things I can't think of off the top of my head.  My main point is that by the time everything is said and done, we're all basically experiencing a different game than each other.  In a game like this that can be a bit of a problem, as a large part of it is based off observation.

 

[edwin3 74]

you are right, as the mentioned examples are obvious and had been talked about several times. but the devs are aware of that and trying to solve those probs, as fair circumstances have a high priority in developement. wait for the new tech to come (renderer -> trees & gras, new sound engine, optimization -> desync) and maybe inform yourself a bit more to get a better understatement of what to expect.

 

greets

[Jex 1104]

It's hard as a developer to make a game look great but also allow people to modify the look so they can run it. Having been on the crap end of the graphics it's still pretty hard to see people and now I can run high, I do and I love it. Some side by side comparison screen shots would be good though :)

[Bororm 1156]

I just did some quick google searches because I'm a bit lazy to take my own at the moment.  You can easily see the effects with trees if you just look at a heavily wooded area and toggle your trees from "disabled" to "all trees+grass."  It updates it instantly.  Maybe it's because I have a decent computer, but I actually notice no frame difference at all between disabled and all on, which makes me wonder about actual performance impact.

 

 

These are from the mod but it's essentially the same.

Here's a decent one demonstrating the difference at close range:

So I guess the SA actually does force a standard for terrain settings which is what this first screenshot demonstrates.  I'm gonna leave it any ways though, because I still feel it's a good example of what I'm talking about.

 

 

Obviously anyone in the foliage on the left of the wall there is going to be a lot harder to spot with the higher settings.

 

Here's a shadow comparison.  Notice the ghillie in the middle particularly, but also the other on the left and how much easier they are to spot without shadows:

 

 

As you say the difficulty is in allowing people to run it with lower end computers.  They need to come up with a creative solution however imo.  I hope the renderer can improve performance enough to possibly allow them to set some sort of standard.

Edited September 11, 2015 by Bororm

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

I agree this is an issue, and that it needs to be resolved. Personally, I am more than willing to wait for the new renderer to drop before such changes take effect. Till then, I will not trust shadows or foliage to hide me. It's noteworthy that certain settings can be reduced to make the game run faster, but that turns otherwise-transparent windows into effective concealment for your enemies. There are a variety of issues in terms of consistency. I anticipate a clever solution.

[yazar8 584]

I agree fully.

 

Playing on low settings should not be a handicap for those who use higher settings. Which in other words is like self-handicapping.

[Yuval 221]

I cant really be mad at the settings scheme since it exists at every game. That's a thing in gaming I think. Quality at the expense of visibility.

Others things are fixable but require development resources and as far as I see it, devteam is really amped into adding new things right now so I'd suffer those bugs if we get more stuff IG.

[Bororm 1156]

I cant really be mad at the settings scheme since it exists at every game. That's a thing in gaming I think. Quality at the expense of visibility.

 

 

I think a creative solution needs to be reached or at least to set a standard, even if that standard is lower.  It should be something taken into account when designing each prop.  Pine trees in arma/dayz are obviously the biggest example.  I'd say you have roughly 2/3rds more coverage with trees on higher settings compared to low.  The model itself should just be redeveloped to something that provides the same concealment regardless.

 

Hopefully as mentioned the new renderer can provide an option for that.  I'd love to see the trees and bushes reworked.

[emuthreat 2837]

I think a creative solution needs to be reached or at least to set a standard, even if that standard is lower.  It should be something taken into account when designing each prop.  Pine trees in arma/dayz are obviously the biggest example.  I'd say you have roughly 2/3rds more coverage with trees on higher settings compared to low.  The model itself should just be redeveloped to something that provides the same concealment regardless.

 

Hopefully as mentioned the new renderer can provide an option for that.  I'd love to see the trees and bushes reworked.

Maybe the solution is to set up servers in tiers of graphical detail and quality so that all players on a server share the same experience.  I can still foresee other issues this might raise, like forcing people into lower graphically tiered servers in order to play with a friend whose computer is not as capable.  It seems like reworking all of the environment models might be a lot more work than it is worth.

[Bororm 1156]

Maybe the solution is to set up servers in tiers of graphical detail and quality so that all players on a server share the same experience.  I can still foresee other issues this might raise, like forcing people into lower graphically tiered servers in order to play with a friend whose computer is not as capable.  It seems like reworking all of the environment models might be a lot more work than it is worth.

 

That's an interesting idea.  To my understanding, the ability to change the terrain detail setting is actually a server option currently.

[emuthreat 2837]

That's an interesting idea.  To my understanding, the ability to change the terrain detail setting is actually a server option currently.

It would still suck to have to segregate the player base three or five different ways though.

[Bororm 1156]

Here's a nice animation discrepancy that got me and my buddy killed today:

 

 

We were holding two guys up on the airfield, a pretty rare event.  Typically I don't like to take much from people when I do hold them up, because otherwise I might as well just kill them.  I had these guys drop their primaries and unloaded the SKS at this guys feet.  Took the UMP from the other guy, but it had no mag any ways.  Any ways, back to the topic, guy in white had also dropped his pistol at his feet.  I didn't unload that, which I should have I suppose but everything was quite friendly, and he apparently picked it up and shot us.  On my screen, the weapon never left the floor or entered his hands, as you can see from the screenshot (he is actively shooting in this shot).  I actually thought it was a third party showing up from outside.  My friend confirmed it was white jacket guy however, and it was further confirmed when the second of the two (a little kid) talked shit over our bodies.  My buddy did take white jacket guy with us though.

 

 

This old gem also happened during this encounter.  Where he was on the ground for me, then warped back upstairs.  I could have shot him on the ground and for him I'd be aiming in totally the wrong spot:

 

Similarly, the old warping through the walls as you run around is still alive and well.  Floating up ladders/stairs too.

Edited September 14, 2015 by Bororm