[Game Mode] All players spawn infected

[scriptfactory 620]

Background

I have been playing The Division's Survival DLC for the past week. It is the most fun I have had in that game since it was released. Check out this TotalBiscuit video if you want a quick introduction.

The things about this mode that I find engaging could also be applied to DayZ.

• You aren't killed for being thirsty and hungry after running around for a few minutes.
• The focus is on survival. Shooting and helping other players is a by-product of the need to survive.
• Skills have to be learned. You don't just spawn with the skills of a surgeon, mechanic, soldier, etc.

Suggestion

The thing I like the most about this mode is the constant fear of death provided by an "infection" status. You spawn infected. You run around trying to find medication that staves off your imminent death. The disease progresses as long as your "medicine" isn't active and eventually you will die.

For DayZ we already have the idea of infection but you are somehow immune. Instead of being immune I though it would be cool if we were all infected and had to fight off a slowly advancing disease. The following simple changes could be made to enable this in DayZ:

• Everyone starts infected. Your first goal is to find medication to stabilize your physical condition.
• As the disease progresses you can get other ailments (e.g. cold, fever, diarrhea, etc.) which also have to be cured using in-game medical items.
• Lack of food no longer kills you. It just adds severe movement/vision penalties. You can still die from dehydration.
• Medication comes in various strengths that halt infection advancement for a certain time period (5-10 minutes per dose).
• Players can learn to craft medication after building a base but it requires farming.
• Players can find a cure in some dangerous area but it is only a few doses and only spawns rarely (once per day or something).

I think this change would have the following effects on gameplay:

• Bandits would rob players for medication before shooting them. They might even make them slaves to help with farming (like Negan in Walking Dead.)
• Medication could form the basis for an in-game economy on certain servers. Sickness is the perfect currency dump.
• Players could eventually become resistant to the infection and only require one dose per hour or something. This and the cure would increase player-to-character attachment.

 

[exwoll 255]

wow that environment is pretty good! 

side note: The infection idea is pretty cool. Still I think people should be able to die due to hunger.

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

9 hours ago, scriptfactory said:

You aren't killed for being thirsty and hungry after running around for a few minutes.

For me, you hurt this presentation by stating that spawning in harsh conditions is a bad thing.

You are purposefully spawned in hungry and near thirsty in DayZ.

DayZ has accelerated time, no?

I would like you to go outside in a t-shirt and jeans in the Northeastern winter for a full hour and see how you feel, then I'll have you run around until you are soaked through with sweat and make you cool off again..... guess who has hypothermia!? Oh yeah, you'll also burn more calories and water by shivering and the bodies natural reactions to being cold.

 

If we spawned in Energized, Hydrated, and Healthy, we would have a lot of time to do many things before worrying about warmth, food, or hydration.

Why not do away with the mechanics that made DayZ different from ARMA altogether?

Rocket added the survival mechanics first and realized it wasn't enough to keep the game engaging and the infected were more of an after thought.

The rest sounds like a mod someone will make, or you'll make, not a 1.0 game mode.

But hey, we have payday masks, so who knows!

Edited November 28, 2016 by ☣BioHaze☣

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

*oops, no dbl post :P

Edited November 28, 2016 by ☣BioHaze☣

[scriptfactory 620]

13 minutes ago, ☣BioHaze☣ said:

For me, you hurt this presentation by stating that spawning in harsh conditions is a bad thing.

You are purposefully spawned in hungry and near thirsty in DayZ.

DayZ has accelerated time, no?

I would like you to go outside in a t-shirt and jeans in the Northeastern winter for a full hour and see how you feel, then I'll have you run around until you are soaked through with sweat and make you cool off again..... guess who has hypothermia!? Oh yeah, you'll also burn more calories and water by shivering and the bodies natural reactions to being cold.

If we spawned in Energized, Hydrated, and Healthy, we would have a lot of time to do many things before worrying about warmth, food, or hydration.

I am actually in favor of spawning in harsh conditions. I just think that hunger and thirst should have harsh effects on gameplay rather than simply killing off your character. This could give a sense of urgency to everything we do in-game. Hypothermia, broken bones, etc. should remain, imo.

Many people have questioned how a DayZ endgame could work and this (constant need to survive) could be one way.

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

1 hour ago, scriptfactory said:

I just think that hunger and thirst should have harsh effects on gameplay

Yes, I want to see stages of effects for sure.

The shaking is an ok start but I would like to see increased possible failure rate when crafting or performing more complex actions, and tunnel vision and blacking in and out before totally passing out etc.

The endgame should be what you make of it in an open world sand box context.

I think simply building and maintaining a base and vehicles while warding off people, infected, and predators will be common end game type activities.

When people talk about end game loot etc, I tend to roll my eyes a bit because for some people that's an ushunka hat and a fish trap.

Though I doubt I will play many of the mod's of the SA I am fascinated and very excited to see what comes out of the modding community.

[scriptfactory 620]

7 hours ago, ☣BioHaze☣ said:

I think simply building and maintaining a base and vehicles while warding off people, infected, and predators will be common end game type activities.

These are common endgame activities in the majority of survival mods and games. The basebuilding/raiding end-game meta is so common that it feels a little stale and boring to me. I really want to feel like I have to fight to survive all the time.

[exwoll 255]

Well, if they decide to add a real infection to the game, that would make you run as crazy from town to town in search of medicine, or even have to visit specific places where the medicine could be (for example Tisy base for some experimental drug that rumors say would possibly help you), that would add a cool incentive to be alive. 

I really liked the idea of spawning with the infection too (or sick) so that you have another thing to worry about before thinking of going pew pew other players lol

[☣BioHaze☣ 7337]

8 hours ago, scriptfactory said:

The basebuilding/raiding end-game meta is so common that it feels a little stale and boring to me.

I've not messed with other survival games, and haven't built anything more elaborate than a large tent camp in either the mod or SA.

Building and maintaining a full on structure will be novel to me at least.

Being able to retrieve and build things from a contaminated zone will also be an advanced activity requiring protective gear and a biohazard shower.

[Sqeezorz 839]

Why not choose the option after the dead of your Ego, 2 options.

1. new Respawn.

2. continue to live as an infected, of course with the appropriate restrictions, I mean no shotguns can use or if then a very difficult accuracy and the same with all other item for hold on your hand.

[BeefBacon 1185]

Rather than having a separate gamemode, I'd rather see players spawn in a worse condition. Ruined clothes, wet and at half health/blood are the most obvious candidates. First objective should be to find new clothes and to dry off. That would increase the early game challenge considerably. Being wet and cold should also increase the risk of disease - disease in general should be a greater threat. I got sick for the first time ever last night because I ate an uncooked fish fillet I found on a zombie. Almost died - was really good.

Disease being a greater threat would naturally make medicine more valuable. Most diseases should be non-lethal for relatively healthy players, but still a big enough threat to make preventing or curing them a high priority.