Suggestions to Improve Atmosphere

[militantsausage 0]

As most people who have played the game past 1 or 2 deaths would agree, the atmosphere of DayZ doesn't fully capture all the elements that a survival horror game should. Although it is hard to find supplies to keep yourself going, which creates a good survival atmosphere in which most people are either struggling for supplies or constantly looking for them.

The horror side of DayZ though is another story, a game cannot have a eerie sense about it if it is predictable, there is nothing frightening about predictability at all. So how is this fixed? The opposite of being predictable is being surprising, and a surprise is caused by the unknown. The unknown is usually what creates fear and suspense, think about it, say if any of you have played Stalker Call of Pripyat, the first area and the second area both had more mutants roaming in the open, yet Pripyat is largely empty, which creates a feeling of being alone, so when you see that one flash of a mutant running through the buildings in the distance towards you, then you suddenly lose sight, it becomes infinitely more scary than taking on a nest of 5 mutants when you know they are there, yet in reality the fight against 5 of them is probably harder.

The best way to improve this aspect would probably be to stop the whole zombie spawn system spawning 20-70 zombies in a town at least half the time, but rather conceal them, or use different monsters or mutants, which are not seen so easily (this obviously requires a lot of work to be done, including getting a new creatures AI right), so when a player enters a town instead of normally going in just shooting up zombies or crawling past them all, he may find himself slowly walking in, not sure where the threat will come from, until suddenly a powerful monster or zombie or whatever attacks from behind, either making him panic and lots of ammunition its way, or run and flee the area. A DayZ example of this, is how for most people 20 zombies which you see first then engage are less scary and only require certain techniques such as waiting indoors or just plain good shooting to win and not get hurt, but when a player thinks he is safe, then the last zombie in the town runs up behind him and hits him in the back, he will be much more started, sometimes shrieking over the microphone. If zombie numbers in towns decreased, maybe it would allow more server power for creating roving packs of zombies in forests, or something similar, as not being able to predict when you are going to be attacked makes the environment generally more eerie, while at the moment you know it will always be near settlements where you are attacked.

Something else which would improve atmosphere a lot would be a proper backstory and setting, at the moment you have perfectly fine weather, sometimes including bright blue skies, infact the place is perfectly fine for human settlement, the environment gives off no hostility whatsoever and besides other players the whole landscape is perfectly safe bar any settlements. What about possibly using color filters, fog or wind like scripts including maybe howling wind, and adjustment of contrast? It can create a much more intense environment, I did up a bit of code to create my own environmental post apocalyptic feel, including having a radioactive zone.

Also the one thing DayZ really has over survival horror games which are Singleplayer, is the online part and the potential for coop, yet 90% of encounters with other players in DayZ involve shooting each other. DayZ doesn't need to become a completely friendly coop game either, the bandit types are a part of the game now, but they are too much or a part. A solution would be to have safe zones, not large ones, but large enough to allow players to meet without weapons ready, and perhaps discuss ventures between players, or trade equipment. Perhaps more cooperation could be gained out of this while still keeping bandits around.

So to sum up really the main points of this, a great way to improve the game would be to create a more fearful atmosphere, possibly including new types of monsters, a better setting and harsher environment, and adding safezones to allow players to meet in a friendly way, while still keeping the bandit role a viable option, just slightly less rewarding perhaps balancing the overall system more.

[hoik 415]

Like your general direction with this suggestion - the right tone of atmosphere could add alot to the horror aspect of the game.

What about moments of unexpected beauty? Maybe some subltle yet haunting music as you watch the sun rise - like some forgetten memory of how things were. This would give me chills I gaurentee you.

There was a post about fog - it had a awsome vid with the land covered in a thick blanket of eery fog it was f'ing awsome. You should do a search for it.

[Survivor-Kyle 148]

What about moments of unexpected beauty?

They already exist. I saw a zombie stop following me and chase after/eat a bunny rabbit. I damn near cried it was so beautiful.

[hoik 415]

What about moments of unexpected beauty?

They already exist. I saw a zombie stop following me and chase after/eat a bunny rabbit. I damn near cried it was so beautiful.

hahaha that really is beautiful.

[militantsausage 0]

well, having occasional examples of how things once were would certainly add to a background and atmosphere, but at the moment the only thing that this "zombie apocalypse" has brought to civilization is well... zombies, besides them everything is unchanged from say Chernarus during the Harvest Red campaign.

Also music should not be relied to on too much for atmosphere, as generally it is an artificial way of doing it, not actually being in the situation. It is like saying fighting zombies at 3am with all lights off is better, it certainly makes it more frightening but the game isn't really creating all of that. A howling wind and abandoned landscape and towns certainly would give me the chills.

[wulfenrider@msn.com 14]

Nice posting there Militant.

Obviously a lot of suggestions are going to influence heavily from other games, purely because they managed to do it first....which is no bad thing, some games have this spot on.

Atmosphere

I would suggest a cracking example of creating that believable living game is for example all those little bits of hidden gems that the Fallout games had if you just went off exploring or took more notice of a initially nondescript area.

The car buried under a landslide in the middle of nowhere with the teddy bear and children's books on the back seat next to the little skeletons.

The barricaded room where a family tried to shelter from the atomic war.

The little messages left in mail boxes and on old damaged computers, hinting at life before the conflict.

The airplane crashed in the swamp where the pilot made his last stand.

The shelter with scratches and corpse's by the locked airlock.

Little scenarios all over the place if you only took the time to look, they made such a difference to the game and some were genuinely moving! They were not part of the story and were certainly not part of the action, but they did add so much to the game.

[militantsausage 0]

Yeah I completely agree with you.

[xximrtwoixx 104]

There are some examples of static or prop pieces in the environment already, body piles, dead military personel, medical camps etc. I agree that these add alot to the environment and were a huge part of the fallout series and what really imersed you in the environment.

Rather than see these included by the developers though I would like to see players have the ability to modify/create/change the environment. A bandit road block littered with dead bodies, or a barricaded house filled with ammo/guns but no food and one body. Pick up a recorded shortwave radio signal requesting help/giving warning.

I disagree about additional mobs being included, I like the "realisitic" take with infected only, I do agree that encounters could be spiced up through delayed spawns, spawns on tents, or roaming packs.

I think safe zones would end up being the most dangerous places in the game as bandits/griefers would simply hang out outside of the zone to ambush/kill players. Take a look at Free Side trading it is a player group that aims at establishing safe areas, I think the answer is to provide content that would allow players to build/fortify and clear areas.

[Marten (DayZ) 2]

+1 to this.

Except the Safe Zones.

Total freedom is a key part of the game. Although there is to much

shoot on sight and no teamwork at the time. That prob should not be

solved by restrictions like save zones or the like.

[wulfenrider@msn.com 14]

Obviously the game mechanics are the Devs main focus at the moment.

But one of the moments for me that break the DayZ spell is when you reach the edge of the map and look out unto endless....nothing!

I would find it very impressive if the following type situation arose.

".......after several hours of creeping through the pitch black forest, occasionally freezing in position and hoping that twig breaking or strangled cry deep in the woods is nothing more than the harmless wildlife, you see a gradually increasing glow to the west...the direction you have been heading for all these days.

You become aware as you climb higher up the hill and the forest starts to thin, that the light is now starting to become so bright, you are going to struggle to stay hidden for much longer....you have no choice, and decide salvation is so near, that you just have to to take the chance, besides.....you doubt the little food and water you have left leaves any choice anyway.

You crawl to the the lip of the hill, unwilling to make yourself a target and check your map a final time, before you start to prepare for the dash for the border. You crest the hill and when confronted by the sight ahead of you, you stumble and eventually your knees give way as you crumple to the floor..ahead of you through tear blurred eyes you see....."

What do you see?

A blackened atomic battle ground as far as the eye can see?

A minefield stretching to the horizon to the north and south, a massive impenetrable concrete wall hundreds of metres behind the minefield?

A mist so thick that it almost feels like its alive....and there are without doubt " things "screaming and running everywhere in it?

The statue of liberty with apes on horse back around it?

[militantsausage 0]

Yeah the edge of the map thing would be a good idea I guess. On the safe zones topic, if there was a way to stop people from camping them say if a holster weapon system was added, if someone was seen within 500m of the site with a weapon out, they would be warned to holster it, then shot by CDF guards or something. I don't see how a couple of safe areas would destroy detract from freedom, a safe zone is not a compulsory visit, and if zombies and stuff were roaming the place and not attached to their houses, a safer area may well be appreciated by many, also a bandit may be a worse idea if the zombies were more of a threat, at the moment killing another player means loot and cool stuff, but if you were being attacked by a large creature in the forest you couldn't see, another player would be a great person to team up with, increasing your survival chances to a far higher point than what it might be with an extra couple cans of food and drink, and another weapon even though you can only use one at a time.

Perhaps a more dynamic idea of allowing players to clear a town and not having zombies spawn in it, or give them the chance to build their own safe zone, might go well with a radio system in which it could broadcast their location across to everyone.