Left Behind [ sneak peak ]

[Yuval 221]

Hello everyone. I'd like to present something I've been working on for months.I am slowly developing a mod, initially intended for ArmA 3 but with the main focus on DayZ SA integration. This mod is supposed to be my first and last release on the Bohemia Interactive platform. Although it is the work of a few months, it is based on my experiences during my good ol' ArmA days. This mod is inspired by many ideas and atmospheres that have floated around the ArmA (and DayZ mod) community for a long time. It is currently under development with the knowledge that Enfusion will change alot of how modding is done, and respective decisions are made to make sure it will be compatible once SA mod support is integrated.

Before I present anything, I wish to go on with the credits first (not that much so far!). I'd first like to thank Sumrak (Adam Francu) for allowing me to use some audio and models from his legendary Namalsk Crisis mod. Also, ArmanIII for his permission to use models from his Chernobyl Zone. Except them, I'd also like to thank Dean Hall, Bushlurker and Martin Bauer for creating some amazing missions and terrains that have forever shaped modding and terrain making to this day in the community. With that, also big shoutout to GSC games that created the STALKER series - who have placed a big footprint on many of the Eastern European terrains made in the RV engine. Last but not least, me! I have been working and dedicating a lot of free time for years experimenting with ArmA terrain tools. Though never released anything, I created a lot of projects that never seen the light of day (Unnamed desert map, Implementation of Novigrad in South Zagoria region, Kholodia which this mod hosts a terrain that is atmospherically based on). This mod is unleashed from projects that were started and never finished.

Left behind is a mod that focuses on player interaction, PVP and the progression of the players' character throughout gameplay. It is intended to forcefully place a player in a situation and continue his character's story from that point and on. The background for this mod is set on an Eastern European Island in the Baltic sea that isn't technologically advanced, with the main business activity being related to agriculture. During the 20th century it was mainly occupied by a Soviet government until the desolation of the USSR so alot of its architecture fits the style of that era. The island had experienced a terrifying event of Radioactive leak from its main power source - a nuclear power plant. An evacuation from the Island was ordered shortly after the leak was discovered, but it was far too late for a few hundreds who hadn't made it to the extraction zones in time. Those who stayed, left behind by the government, had to survive with what was left for them. Cities abandoned, military bases scavenged and most importantly, radioactive material in the air - the civilians left behind must survive under harsh conditions. The mod will place your character a short time after the evacuation attempt, where you are left alone in a post-apocalyptic environment. Mutated enemies are not planned to make an appearance. This leaves most of the focus on player interaction and PVP. The mod is going to manipulate how players will react upon encounters with other players. Shifting the simple kill-on-sight approach to a much more complicated observation. Killing has consequences, the mod will ensure you do not just blindly eliminate other players. That being said, this mod will not be anti-PVP. The map design uses 'psychological choke points', mainly large cities, to endorse the use of force in intimidating locations (think them as 'Dark Zones').

Some aspects of the character are going to be determined for the players by the system. The players will be identified by a name given to their character upon first spawn, a basic background is also determined (a job for example, farmer will have farmer clothing and spawned near farms - etc..). These aspects are out of the players' control - and the players will have to adapt to them, the will escort their characters until they die. That being said, the players' character is also to be developed throughout gameplay - in addition to shaving (and maybe soft skills?) that are coming to DayZ vanilla - a humanity system of some sorts will also be implemented. The effects of humanity on the character are still undetermined at this point. Also, a player-driven barter system (not system-driven!!!) and hopefully soft-AI is also planned. Base-building is subject to change (waiting on DayZ's take on it).

The high value loot is not going to be found in military bases, but rather at the heart of larger cities - specifically makeshift evacuation camps made for evacuation and then abandoned. This changes how the combat will differ from the Vanilla survival experience. The map design focuses on simplicity in terms of terrain features, with the main sightings being settlements, meadows, forests and mountains. Most of the open areas are fields of different colors, emphasizing the agricultural background of the Island.

As final words, I would like to say that this mod doesn't have an official completion day - it will not be released farther than half a year from today. I am going to enlist to the army in Q1 of 2018 - therefore this mod will be released completed or not by then (hopefully SA will integrate modding until then!).

 

Edited September 5, 2017 by Yuval