Improved Spawning System

[MillionGunman 0]

Having spent a little over 70 hours playing DayZ, according to my ArmA II statistics, I feel the need to make some suggestions that, in my opinion, would make this mod much, much better. I plan to put forth all sorts of suggestions regarding the different aspects of DayZ in the near future, but for now I will focus on ways to improve the spawning system.

1. My first suggestion is to make it so that players can spawn almost anywhere on the map. It's very unrealistic for every single person to wake up on the coast at the start of the zombie apocalypse, but it also makes a significant difference gameplay-wise. With every player spawning on the coast, there appears to be a much greater concentration of people in the coastal cities and villages than in the areas to the north. I typically run into a least two or three players per session while exploring the coast, but during my first trip to the north, which took several hours and multiple play sessions, I only saw two other survivors, and the server was filled to the brim with players. If spawn points were set up all over the map, it would also become more difficult for bandits to predict where newly-spawned players will appear, thus discouraging some of them from camping spawns and picking off survivors on arrival.

There should still be some restrictions regarding spawn locations, however. It would make more sense to have players spawn in places such as barns, deer stands and empty buildings, some distance away from nearby zombies and players. Places one would seek in the event of a zombie apocalypse, or where someone would be if they had no idea that the world had come to an end. Castles, barns, deer stands, churches, military installations, hospitals, etc. Perhaps there could even be basements and underground shelters for players to spawn in. Imagine spawning in such a place, opening the door and seeing what's become of the world. It could be as chilling and awe-inspiring as seeing the devastation caused by the nuclear holocaust upon exiting the vault in Fallout 3.

2. My second suggestion is in regards to players' initial loadout and appearance. Your starting gear, abilities, clothing and physical appearance should vary to some degree depending on where you spawn. For example, if you spawn in a deer stand, your character could have a hunter's outfit, a backpack, a hunting rifle, binoculars and other things that one would bring on a hunting trip, with your gear randomized to some degree so that hunters don't spawn with the exact same loadout every time. Still others could spawn with nothing (no backpack, bandages, flashlight or painkillers), having to scrounge for food, water and weapons much like we do now. Some characters could spawn with torn and/or bloody clothing, suggesting that they've been through Hell and back before you took over. I would also like to see skin tones and voices being chosen randomly for you when you spawn, instead of letting the player make such choices.

You should be assigned certain strengths and weaknesses based on your starting location and character, such as the ability to give blood transfusions (something that should only be available to army or civilian doctors), proficiency (or lack thereof) with specific firearms (less barrel wander, ability to reload quickly), the ability to survive without food and water for longer periods of time, etc. You should also be able to train others in your area of expertise, with some characters being unable to learn certain things, lest Chernarus be overrun by doctors and marksmen. This would go some way towards alleviating the KOS problem, since it would make players less eager to kill survivors whose knowledge and skills could be valuable to them.

Well, this is all I could come up with at the moment. I may update this post if I get any other ideas. Thoughts?

[Alex__2 11]

Having spent a little over 70 hours playing DayZ' date=' according to my ArmA II statistics, I feel the need to make some suggestions that, in my opinion, would make this mod much, much better. I plan to put forth all sorts of suggestions regarding the different aspects of DayZ in the near future, but for now I will focus on ways to improve the spawning system.

1. My first suggestion is to make it so that players can spawn almost anywhere on the map. It's very unrealistic for every single person to wake up on the coast at the start of the zombie apocalypse, but it also makes a significant difference gameplay-wise. With every player spawning on the coast, there appears to be a much greater concentration of people in the coastal cities and villages than in the areas to the north. I typically run into a least two or three players per session while exploring the coast, but during my first trip to the north, which took several hours and multiple play sessions, I only saw two other survivors, and the server was filled to the brim with players. If spawn points were set up all over the map, it would also become more difficult for bandits to predict where newly-spawned players will appear, thus discouraging some of them from camping spawns and picking off survivors on arrival.

There should still be some restrictions regarding spawn locations, however. It would make more sense to have players spawn in places such as barns, deer stands and empty buildings, some distance away from nearby zombies and players. Places one would seek in the event of a zombie apocalypse, or where someone would be if they had no idea that the world had come to an end. Castles, barns, deer stands, churches, military installations, hospitals, etc. Perhaps there could even be basements and underground shelters for players to spawn in. Imagine spawning in such a place, opening the door and seeing what's become of the world. It could be as chilling and awe-inspiring as seeing the devastation caused by the nuclear holocaust upon exiting the vault in Fallout 3.

2. My second suggestion is in regards to players' initial loadout and appearance. Your starting gear, abilities, clothing and physical appearance should vary to some degree depending on where you spawn. For example, if you spawn in a deer stand, your character could have a hunter's outfit, a backpack, a hunting rifle, binoculars and other things that one would bring on a hunting trip, with your gear randomized to some degree so that hunters don't spawn with the exact same loadout every time. Still others could spawn with nothing (no backpack, bandages, flashlight or painkillers), having to scrounge for food, water and weapons much like we do now. Some characters could spawn with torn and/or bloody clothing, suggesting that they've been through Hell and back before you took over. I would also like to see skin tones and voices being chosen randomly for you when you spawn, instead of letting the player make such choices.

You should be assigned certain strengths and weaknesses based on your starting location and character, such as the ability to give blood transfusions (something that should only be available to army or civilian doctors), proficiency (or lack thereof) with specific firearms (less barrel wander, ability to reload quickly), the ability to survive without food and water for longer periods of time, etc. You should also be able to train others in your area of expertise, with some characters being unable to learn certain things, lest Chernarus be overrun by doctors and marksmen. This would go some way towards alleviating the KOS problem, since it would make players less eager to kill survivors whose knowledge and skills could be valuable to them.

Well, this is all I could come up with at the moment. I may update this post if I get any other ideas. Thoughts?

[/quote']

No the basic background of DayZ is that you ended up on the coast after you're ship sunk!

You are saying some people will start of with advantages so why would people try to play it hardcore if you can just die many times and get the loadout you wan't...

Are you also saying to limit the customization?! really?!I really hope you're trolling!

[MillionGunman 0]

No the basic background of DayZ is that you ended up on the coast after you're ship sunk!

You are saying some people will start of with advantages so why would people try to play it hardcore if you can just die many times and get the loadout you wan't...

Are you also saying to limit the customization?! really?!I really hope you're trolling!

If you were required to be in possession of a weapon (gun + ammo or melee weapon) to respawn, then people who spawn with no weapon would not be able to kill themselves for a better loadout.

[Survivor-Kyle 148]

DayZ is the sequel to Lost. We have to spawn on the coast; it's where our submarine crashed.

[Shroom 12]

I literally posted something exactly like this a few weeks ago. Use the search function before posting!

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=11948&pid=114650#pid114650

[MillionGunman 0]

I literally posted something exactly like this a few weeks ago. Use the search function before posting!

http://dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=11948&pid=114650#pid114650

I agree with your suggestion to make abilities available to every player, given proper instruction and practice, but in some situations, it might become necessary to teach another player how to do something relatively complex in a hurry. For example, you've been gravely wounded and you're losing blood at an alarming rate. There's a fellow survivor at your side. This player has no idea what to do. You have the knowledge and skills required to perform a blood transfusion, but not on yourself. Being that you're a doctor, you could walk the aforementioned player through the procedure, making his chances of success slightly higher than if he had performed the task on a player with no medical background. If the player is not used to seeing blood, he could run the risk of fainting during the procedure, not unlike the scene in which Hurley faints during an operation on a dying patient in the TV show Lost.