Scope and variety of possible mods

[FlimFlamm 509]

The beginning of the beta is drawing nigh, and I've been thinking a lot about the potential diversity of what the modding community will be able to offer in terms of content and game-play.

Because the Enfusion engine is a simulator already endowed (or about to be endowed) with many different varieties of internal simulated systems or "features", which are designed to be as modular as possible (think lego blocks; they are designed to be easily modified and manipulated), the numbers of ways that they can be recombined and re-purposed to me seems really far-reaching.

Just to give an example of what I mean, a modder could very easily make a full blown "hunting simulator" game by removing zombies, adding some animals and refining their behavior a bit, and creating a mission generating G.U.I (graphical user interface) that would facilitate positions of player spawning, selecting various hunting challenges, load-outs, trophies, etc...

A totally different approach could be to make a round based FPS, or even an offline story based FPS (like half-life or wolfenstein). Once vehicles are tweaked modders could even pretty easily make a full blown racing game; add a few vehicles, make a track, erect world barriers, set-up race-related triggers, and an effective GUI. A clever and comprehensive mod can take a given game and turn it into something entirely different.

When it comes to the future of mods for DayZ, things like team-death-match are a given, as are new maps, and additional content added into what DayZ already is, but what I'm curious about are what kinds of mods would be reasonable to create with the Enfusion engine that would drastically and fundamentally change the type of game that end-users play?. To help with brainstorming, here is a rough list of the individual modular systems that are already implemented or confirmed for the beta:

Environment:

• Accurate time, day/night, and solar/lunar cycles (I think the star map is accurate too)
• Temperature and weather
• Sound simulation
• Light simulation
• Interact-able world objects (doors, storage, traps, apple trees, anything you can blow up, etc...)
• Interact-able objects (clothing, tools, weapons)
• Ballistics simulation
• Vehicle physics simulation (land, air and water)
• Structural construction and deconstruction (tents, barricades, walls, doors, barbed wire, etc...)
• Radio simulation (broadcasting towers, receivers, hand-helds, simulated frequencies, etc...)
• Electricity simulation (generation, distribution, application: lighting, tools, electrification, etc...)
• AI governed NPC's (wildlife, zombies, etc...)
• Agriculture (all-be-it accelerated)
• Item spawning-distribution-economy control simulation
• What did I forget??? Explosions?

Player:

• Food/cooking and nourishment simulation
• Illness and cure simulation
• Melee combat simulation
• Weapons combat, usage and maintenance simulation
• Physical injury and medical treatment simulation
• Elemental exposure simulation (Too hot, too cold, too wet, "My feet hurt", etc...)
• Stamina consumption/weight/movement/speed simulation (get hurt and limp appropriately, carry too much and run slower/get tired faster, etc...)
• Clothing/storage simulation
• Direct voice, text, and radio based communication simulation
• Vehicle operation and maintenance simulation
• Incapacitation and restraining of players (cuffs, tranquilizers,, etc...)
• Physical player manipulation (dragging unconscious bodies, forcing handcuffed persons around, loading them into vehicles, etc...)
• What did I forget this time??? Death?

 

Considering the above features in addition to new features that could theoretically very feasibly be added in by modders, What sorts of possible mods can you come up with that would be a drastic departure from the way DayZ itself is played?

[Monkeys Machinimas 10]

I would like to see a mod in a different time period, for example The French and Indian War in 1757. I think the gunplay is perfect for muskets and this period suits to the survival aspect of Dayz. 

Edited August 6, 2016 by Monkeys Machinimas

[blackberrygoo 1416]

Three ideas of mine that I think would be really simple to make into mods but could become so popular as to have their own stabdaloNe eventually.

 

1.) Dark Dayz - medieval themed dayz with or without zombies ( Id keep them but make them just a common enemy among many) . 

2.) wild dayz - wild Wild West themed dayz with no zombies , just humans creating madness in the good old wild west of the frontier North America period . Imagine having to kill the sheriff (whomever had amassed that title in the specific town) to break out your buddies (also real people) of the local jail , then riding carriages across the dusty west with dayz graphics , im already sold .

3.) Dino dayz - dayz with no zombies , but dinosaurs . Set in chernarus as a jurassic park dinosaurs escaped a park theme or the typical make a foresty island map and make us the players as cavemen and women (awesome).

 

someone please make one of "my mods" a reality.  Preferably the Wild West one now that im thinking about it .

[Buakaw 274]

Since the developers will most likely never do something as radical and important as enforcing 1PP, I just hope there will be a popular community hardcore survival mod with balance finetuning and minor additions.

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

If we cherry picked the time, weather/clothing/heat, nourishment/cooking, sound, light, radio, electrical, AI, and item-spawning systems, we could build Kim Kardashian's Awesome Night Out at the Club simulator complete with getting stupid drunk and (with some terrible melee combat, which would actually fit better here) tearing up Macie's dress because she hit on Darren and everybody knows Darren likes you better and anyway Macie's a total bitch. And then flood it with zombies so everybody dies and nobody ever has to hear about that DayZ SA mod again.

You'd have to check the radio for the weather report and make sure to dress appropriately, because I hate you for even reading this far. =)

Edited August 7, 2016 by Funkmaster Rick

[Parazight 1594]

Good topic, Flimflamm. 

What I find interesting is the question of how far modders can go before other titles are just plain better and/or are more attractive.  Take dayz racing simulator mod, for example.  Or, at what point would a dedicated flight simulator be better?

Personally, I'd probably check out a mod where nothing spawns and interacting with the environment is the only way to obtain items. 

Infected with assault rifles. Probably try that as well. 

[Buakaw 274]

16 hours ago, Parazight said:

Good topic, Flimflamm. 

What I find interesting is the question of how far modders can go before other titles are just plain better and/or are more attractive.  Take dayz racing simulator mod, for example.  Or, at what point would a dedicated flight simulator be better?

Personally, I'd probably check out a mod where nothing spawns and interacting with the environment is the only way to obtain items. 

Infected with assault rifles. Probably try that as well. 

Yeah all these things are constantly on my mind. I think of a perfect Dayz like a set of the Walking Dead, you would find things where you'd realistically expect them to be. Dead bodies along the road that could have a gun.. stuff like that. Or did you actually mean... infected that shoot back?

[Parazight 1594]

I had recently started a thread in the Suggestions sub-forum titled Arm the Infected 

So, yea.  I wouldn't mind infected that shoot back.  Note that I don't necessarily think they should have great aim. Although, I'd be okay with mediocre aim, or better, even.  Hell, even if their weapon was totally empty, they'd instinctively try and shoot it.  If the only result was that other players would hear zeds shooting at you then they'd be much more significant.  Infected trying to stab me with bayonets? Sign me up!

[irl-calibre 744]

On 07/08/2016 at 1:52 AM, blackberrygoo said:

Three ideas of mine that I think would be really simple to make into mods but could become so popular as to have their own stabdaloNe eventually.

 

1.) Dark Dayz - medieval themed dayz with or without zombies ( Id keep them but make them just a common enemy among many) . 

2.) wild dayz - wild Wild West themed dayz with no zombies , just humans creating madness in the good old wild west of the frontier North America period . Imagine having to kill the sheriff (whomever had amassed that title in the specific town) to break out your buddies (also real people) of the local jail , then riding carriages across the dusty west with dayz graphics , im already sold .

3.) Dino dayz - dayz with no zombies , but dinosaurs . Set in chernarus as a jurassic park dinosaurs escaped a park theme or the typical make a foresty island map and make us the players as cavemen and women (awesome).

 

someone please make one of "my mods" a reality.  Preferably the Wild West one now that im thinking about it .

way, way back in the day when the early Dayz prototype zombie mission mod was by far the most popular mod for ARMA in the modding section of the arma forums  (they don't exist anymore), some folk were working on a mod for ARMA featuring dionsaurs, they even got as far as producing an animated wireframe for a t-rex but nothing ever seemed to come of it, I thought it would be a cracking idea for a mod but dunno if anything ever came of it.

[sneakydude 480]

ark has dinosaurs and you can mod that

[FlimFlamm 509]

Some interesting ideas! I quite like the idea of a western or medieval themed DayZ, although I think we can come up with even more radical adaptations of the Enfusion engine.

The kind of mod that I am most interested in seeing is in a way a microcosm of what DayZ already is : A round based murder/mystery role-playing game!!!!!

For the purpose of describing what I have in mind I will detail a specific "setting" for the game to take place in, but keep in mind that the setting and many particulars of the game (objectives, mechanics, etc..) can be altered entirely.

Imagine a very large military compound equipped with dorms/barracks, a mess-hall, social areas, weapons lockers, a brig/jail, sickbay, offices for commanding officers, radios networks, electrical systems and generators; the works. Now imagine that this compound is surrounded by noxious gas created by the masses of rotting corpses around the exterior of the compound, and the only thing keeping the air clean inside the large single structure compound is a series of large air-filters powered by fuel-burning generators. Everything inside the building like lights, fridges, electrical medical tools, security systems, communication consoles, (and more) also operate on electricity, which requires regular refueling and maintenance of a central generator. If the power supply to the air filtration system runs out, then, then the air inside the compound will steadily become poisonous and disease filled. It is possible to have a full hazmat suit and gas mask in order to endure a poisonous environment, but the gas mask will only last for a certain amount of time before it is ruined, and there aren't enough hazmat suits to go around.

And so a round begins, and this map is loaded (with fresh but limited supplies) and populated with anywhere from 20-60 players (or more, or less, depending on the size of the map), and the players are assigned to fill the various staff positions that a military compound would actually have. There would be a ranking C-O (commanding officer) and their direct subordinates (chief medical officer, head of security, chief engineer, etc...) and under them would serve all manner of required positions. Engineers to keep the generators running and fix anything that breaks (the more that can break, the better), doctors to handle injuries, cooks to feed the constantly hungry staff, janitors to clean all the messes they create, security staff to police everyone,civilians who require constant supervision, and more.

Each "round" which begins with everything fresh (the start of a shift, for role-play purposes) and the same tasks must be confronted by the crew. The engineers need to organize their electrical supplies and arrange fuel transportation/ generator management; the cooks need to figure out how to get the most out of what food supplies they have or how to scrounge more supplies (i.e, not burning things, possible nourishment value extending mechanics involving particular food combinations). The "soldier" class can be concerned with mounting excursion missions (requiring use of the hazmat/gas masks) in order to collect fuel, medical supplies and food crates (and more!) from the surrounding environment. If any department fails to accomplish their objectives then the entire compound will feel the potentially deadly consequences. If the medical department doesn't know how to make the cure for a certain disease that is being spread (by touch) then everyone might slowly die. If the air filtration system or generators are broken, un-fueled, or sabotaged then there simply aren't enough hazmat and gas masks to go around and people will slowly succumb to multiple diseases (no hazmat) or airborne poison (no gas-mask). If all the rations are destroyed, people who cannot scrounge will become malnourished. If the command makes poor decisions, the facility is put at risk.

Aside from confronting the reality of maintaining a functional and safe compound until the "shift ends", randomly selected players will be given random insidious or antagonistic objectives to carry out against the compound or crew at large. You could be randomly given the role of "cook" but additionally you might be given a secret objective to assassinate a particular crew member, and to get away with it. You could ignore your duties as cook and instead steal weapons or disguises in order to kill your target with violence, or you could attempt to poison them when they inevitably come into the mess hall for some food. All manner of deception and death would be available, but the trick would be getting away with it. Alternatively you could be playing as a civilian, and your objective is simply to steal something specific, like "the captains spare ID card" for instance, and of course, to survive until the end of the shift. Even more insidious objectives could be randomly assigned, things like "Destroy the air filtration system and ensure maximum casualties" or "Forcefully convert followers for your mutiny with the neurological compound in your satchel, and eliminate the command staff at any cost". When the round begins players can also be set aside from the main population and put into special entities such as an organized and extremely well equipped strike force sent to raid/destroy the compound, or even mutant beasts inhabiting the external environment whose general objectives are to kill/feed upon the crew.

The "shift" can conclude in many different ways. The most striking way would be the death of the entire staff, but alternatively the compound could send an emergency radio signal for evacuation, and the arrival (or departure) of some large APC could trigger the end of the round and a tabulation of the scores (who lived, who died, who accomplished what objectives, how many punches were thrown in the bar, etc...) Alternatively the round could or would end if all the antagonists are eliminated. At the beginning of the round, only the randomly selected antagonists know who they are, what they are, and what their objectives are. The non-antagonist staff at large are therefore very suspicious of everything and everyone, and their end goal will be to survive and optionally to thwart whatever antagonists inevitably emerge. The PvE aspect of these games involve things like staying healthy, fed, and alive, but they are also things like environment exploration/navigation, actual knowledge based mechanics like medical procedures or generator maintenance, and more. The PvP aspect of this game sometimes will come to outright combat, but mostly it's going to be about simply trying to cooperate, follow the chain of command, and get whatever task they've been assigned done. Command staff will have to contend with managing and delegating their subordinates, and for organizing any kind of formal response to anything that might go wrong. Subordinates will be subject to the wrath of their superiors usually in the form of sending a security team to subdue and arrest them, usually with great pleasure, and sentencing them to a stint in the prison wing. Antagonists will need to consider how best to carry out their objectives either to ensure success or to ensure that they do it covertly. A finger print system could be implemented (and more forensics mechanics) to allow a detective member of the security team to carry out physical investigations and gather actual evidence. If a courtroom was available players could organize impromptu trials followed by impromptu executions if they are convinced they have found some sort of traitor.

I could keep going in describing how this kind of game could be played in this particular setting, but keep in mind that many kinds of settings could be easily used. I don't know of any 3D simulation games which currently are structured like this, but I do know a host of 2D games which do, chief among them "Space Station 13" (if you're looking for a comparison).

Anyway, that's my dream mod!

Edited August 13, 2016 by FlimFlamm

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

Flamm, your scenario reminds me of a Call of Cthulhu adventure I once played in. I think it ended when the air traffic controller failed so badly at hacking some CCTV cameras that a circuit shorted, which started a fire that came into fantastic contact with the base's stores of aircraft fuel while we were trying to put it out, well before we'd had a chance even to meet anything creepy. Good times.

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

You know, it just occurred to me that, with some work, DayZ SA could be modded to make an excellent Battletech simulator.

[FlimFlamm 509]

On 8/13/2016 at 4:47 AM, Funkmaster Rick said:

Flamm, your scenario reminds me of a Call of Cthulhu adventure I once played in. I think it ended when the air traffic controller failed so badly at hacking some CCTV cameras that a circuit shorted, which started a fire that came into fantastic contact with the base's stores of aircraft fuel while we were trying to put it out, well before we'd had a chance even to meet anything creepy. Good times.

That's exactly the kind of random outcome that keeps me interested in these games; you never know what to expect.

I've never played battle tech simulator but it seems like that might require a substantial amount of work (unless "battle techs" could be somehow MacGuyvered as a vehicle?).

To be honest, if the modding tools are good enough, there are a shit ton of possible full conversion mods might be more popular than we could ever expect!

[smoq2 221]

I'm fully expecting to see a DayZ SA version of Arma 3 Epoch or Exile. I.e. Traders, currency system, tower building system, simple missions and tons of vehicles and weapons ported from other Arma games.

Do I want to see that? I don't really know... 

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

12 hours ago, FlimFlamm said:

I've never played battle tech simulator but it seems like that might require a substantial amount of work (unless "battle techs" could be somehow MacGuyvered as a vehicle?).

That's exactly my thinking - BT generally simulates various different parts of a 'mech with a fuckton of redundancy; the 'mech in question can still function with half its torso missing, for example. The vehicle system still needs a lot of work, but once its done, I think it might make a good base for exactly that.

[sneakydude 480]

On 8/22/2016 at 6:50 AM, smoq2 said:

I'm fully expecting to see a DayZ SA version of Arma 3 Epoch or Exile. I.e. Traders, currency system, tower building system, simple missions and tons of vehicles and weapons ported from other Arma games.

Do I want to see that? I don't really know... 

 

I expect it too, some things are ok, while others are just not in the scene.

Maybe it will be better then arma 3 version, either way it will be fun to try. Scripting, modding doesn't matter because most of that will be private. It doesn't effect the SA version of vanilla purchases with the gsp that wont allow access to the core.

Steam ID? need to download the server files already!!!