melee and survival

[Tigermonk 140]

good day all, I was wondering how far/long the new melee system is as of now. (knowing there's been a fair amount of talking being done about it, in recent times)
the current system (to me) feels like a 5 yo swinging at a pinata while intoxicated by mothers milk.

clumsy, inaccurate and most of all SLOW.
if dynamic spawning becomes a thing.. and there are 5 people in stary.. that means what? 15-20 Z's around? maybe even more?
knowing ammo and guns will (probably) made even more rare in future patches and stamina becoming a thing (sooner or later)
what means of defense will players have when that suppressed M1911 or glock is nowhere to be found anymore?
plus running will be slowed down eventually so cars are needed to cross the map. (which in turn attracts more Zeds because of sound *yes the cars are loud as F*)

that would mean people would actually have to learn how to 'survive' (hey! isn't that what we're after most of the time?)

I've seen people going in all directions on this forum, but I personally think.. the more survival aspects the better. since PvP isn't something these types of games are build upon
this is a zombie apocalypse! these zeds should be the thing you fear in the first place the 1-3 you encounter atm. are fair enough (cocks shotgun/loads M4, chucks away 4 extra 60 clips) <- john rambo XIII is born
but WHAT IF... what if.. that M4 was ultra rare.. and crashed heli's would be gaurded by at least 4-5 zeds? I'd call that a decent enough challenge for a 'survival' game!

Don't get me wrong folks.. a firefight from time to time gets the blood pumping.. sure.
but even on the RP server I play on.. I'm getting kinda sick and tired of seeing everyone, starting out as josh the bike salesman and as SOON as the server restarts..
they BOLT for mishkino tents gear up with more ammo and clips they'll ever use.. an SVD/M4 and just go: I is a marine so I has the potential of shooting a beard hair off your face at 1K distance.

basically ruining the experience for me.. because look at things like TWD.. are ALL of those people trained marines? that KNOW how to fire every type of weapon with sniper like precision?
NO their not..their (mostly) ordinary people that had a 9/5 job somewhere doing whatever.. about 80% of TWD characters are civilians or SURVIVORS... these people don't USE an M4 or M249 for 'self defense' 
they use the kitchen sink, baseball bat (spiked?) a 2x4, crude tools or a mosin/SKS at best MAYBE an AK in the mix (because russia)

so coming back on topic. @Hicks_206 (DayZ) how far/long is the new implementation of the (new) melee system?
and to what extent will it 'change' for the better. because I like the concept of dayz (been playing since the mod was a thing)
but when guns become a rarity.. what options will we HAVE of fighting off the hordes apart from 'sneaking' past them.
because the current system.. is about potent enough for 3-4 zombies.. after that its Usain Bolt time mostly (5 and up) if you're using a melee weapon
because firing a 357 or M4 in cherno is never the smartest option (not now and most certainly NOT when dynamic spawning comes in)

Edited August 9, 2016 by Tigermonk

[General Zod 1114]

We're also back to zombies making you bleed 8/10 times they hit, did they grew claws when I was away ? Because not even broken long nails cause bleeding like the one we get in the game. 

[Demoth 366]

I feel like I've done a 180 over the years, in my position about weapons in this game. While I think melee absolutely needs that overhaul so that it doesn't feel so insanely clunky and stupid, but I also don't want military gear to be nearly as hard to get as it is. I don't want Epoch levels of military gear raining from the skies, but right now, it just feels so.... boring, now that it feels like loot spawn rates have plummeted. I was up in Gorka, on an empty server, and there was practically nothing there. I made my way to NWAF, and found one... ONE AK-101 and a half filled mag for it.

 

Between server hoppers and squads who get geared up, only to move to full servers, there is very little thrill in being that lone survivor on a full server because everything will be picked clean, and you'll be up against several SEAL Team Six look alikes.

[Samuri_Bake_Pie 96]

I'd like to see more of an immersive feel for melee. Right now it feels like every other game ever where you hold a weapon and you swing. There's nothing to it. Why can't we sneak up behind a zombie/player and knife it in the head with something other than a normal knife swing?

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

If you're talking about kill animations, they probably wouldn't fit in DayZ; the momentary loss of control of your character as the animation completes is something I've always found a bit jarring.

[emuthreat 2837]

On 8/27/2016 at 1:08 AM, Demoth said:

 I made my way to NWAF, and found one... ONE AK-101 and a half filled mag for it.

I don't see why that isn't enough for you.  You found an assault rifle and a half-filled magazine at the airfield, and that is not enough?  What ever happened to people actually playing the game?  Sometimes the game wants you to run away because you don't have a surplus of guns and ammo to use at the time.  Nothin' wrong with that...

[MrAerospace 87]

The thing that I would really like to see in Close Quarter Combat is a good grappling mechanic. It just makes sense to have something more visceral than Benny Hill boxing when players are surviving against infected and other apex predators. Predators aren't interested in playing slapping games, they don't do death by 1000 cuts, they latch on, drag their prey down and finish them off as fast as possible. Survival games should really be trying to emulate that, not just for PvE but for PvP as well.

The system should include some form of momentum. You get smacked around by a sledgehammer, an axe, a wolf, a bear, a vehicle, or an infected or another player runs into you and conservation of momentum says you're gonna end up on your ass, or pinned up against a wall. From there, attacking or defending from that position could be a matter of good timing (to avoid being hit) or a well aimed attack, or desperate button mashing as you struggle to prevent predators from tearing out your jugular, or another player sinking in a knife, or choking you out.

Add that on top of tactical weapons mechanic with a varied system of attacks, parries & dodges that have degrees of success based on match-ups (a knife will not parry a sledgehammer) and you'd be way ahead of the field for ALL games. Tactical nous and weapon choice could be critical, for example if large heavy weapons (axe, sledgehammer, sports bats) were most effective outdoors but almost useless indoors, where large swings are impossible. Pole-arms (like a pitchfork, shovel or bayonet) could be the counter, being most powerful in confined spaces, while, lighter/smaller weapons could have faster attacks, but are at a range disadvantage to both. They'd become most effective in the hands of skilled players who can safely dodge blows then close the gap and quickly counter attack or grapple, where  the full value of their tools to bare. 

EDIT: Structure of last paragraph

Edited September 19, 2016 by MrAerospace

[exwoll 252]

Something like this?

I think that things will go ok with Dayz in the future, specially taking modding in count. Since the vanilla game has to be "balanced" between the dev's and some players vision of a "realistic zombie apocalypse" game and the arcade mainstream due to financial reasons, once mods come, we gonna see all kind of changes in some of them where the rarity of weapons, their damage, infected quantities, environmental variables, etc shift towards the realistic side of the game, and will be more useful for mature/serious gaming than the current state of the game.

I think dev's even kinda hinted about this on the last video with the lead designer talking about their hopes in the PVE aspects that modders gonna push through. 

Also there are other aspects that can help balancing the infected threat without increasing too much their number:

• Adding different types of them (within realistic boundaries) for example, and strategically placing them. So that encounters with "dangerous" types will increase exponentially the risk of players death, and turn completely the table against humans.
• Adding different types of repercussions for infected hits (different infections and diseases, with effects that could seriously affect your gameplay as blurriness, temporary blindness, slow movement, intense pain that make your character scream and attract more infected etc)
•  Adding a "fear" factor to the character when he encounter infected (shaky hands, increased pulse, strong breathing, some erratic behaviour, panic and just running when their number is too high) that one could adapt to with more exposition to them with time.

And of course we have a big unchartered sea of "status effects" and their effects on gameplay that could improve the experience adding unknowns:

• Psychological (sadness, depression, fear, panic, insanity,etc)
• Health related
• Physiological (hypo and hyperthermia effects, stress, fatigue, stamina)
• etc

So I'm pretty optimistic with this :)

Edit: I'll actually post this as a couple of suggestions before I foget about it XD

Edited September 19, 2016 by exwoll