Completely Overhauling food mechanics: Making food matter

[sparta436 46]

Warning: This is a complete overhual of the hunger system. You will either love this idea. Or completely hate it.

So DayZ is all about survival. Well survival isnt survival when you can just waltz into any town, pick up 8 cans of beans and then just go on your merry way. There is a hunger mechanic, but hunger is never really a problem, just something you have to do to maintain your character. No one really even dies of hunger in DayZ, as it really inst a problem. The developers have to find a way to make it matter.Also, I should mention that this idea is for when DayZ becomes a game rather than a mod.

Every Server should start with a large quantity of food, as if the zombie apocalypse had just begun 28 days ago (you seriously cant tell me that there wouldn't be food on the shelves in that timescope).Food will be in abundance when the DayZ experience starts out, but then will gradually dwindle as survivors need to feed themselves. After all the beans are gone, they will never respawn again. This is where stuff gets interesting. The game will switch from scavenging to hunting and gathering (your dog will come in handy whenever rocket decides its time for him to enter the game world). You will have to be completely dependent on gathering wild edibles, and killing game. Animals should also be made scarcer. You will be able to find plants such as berries, mushrooms, and all that jazz, but these will only temporarily quench your hunger as they dont provide a very large source of nutrition. You will NEED to find game and kill them. Once you kill an animal, you shouldnt have to eat for about 8 hours ingame, when you eat berries and such, you should have to eat every 45 minutes.

This makes the survivor aspect of the game, much more "authentic" as rocket likes to say.

To cope with the eventual shortage of beans (and keep the game "fair"), survival tools will have to be much more abundant. The lack of knives is insane. I can go into my kitchen, and pull out at least 30 knives from all the drawers. Matches and lighters are also abundant everywhere. These two items should spawn almost as frequently as hatchets do.

i suggest the same thing happen to water and thirst. Once all the sodas are used up, its back to wells and natural springs.

[wolfstriked 143]

The problem is that its just a small map...though largest map for a game.In real world you have endless land to scavenge.

[IzYouFaggot 4]

What about having raw food rot?

[2ugly 12]

At first I almost died of hunger. Couldn't find any food, knife to gut, or matches to cook with. Don't know if that's because everything had already been looted, or the server just didn't have much stuff on it. I have scavenged for hours and found only one source of food. Maybe you need to join more populated servers where the food source is more scarce. I don't think I have ever been to one single city and looted 8 cans of anything. Except soda which seems to spawn on occasion in quantity. Not sure how the mechanic is set up, but hunger will always be an issue, maybe just not for you at the moment. I couldn't believe how much the character has to eat in one day to not get hungry. In real life I'd way 1000lbs by now eating at the rate I have to eat in the game.

[sparta436 46]

At first I almost died of hunger. Couldn't find any food' date=' knife to gut, or matches to cook with. Don't know if that's because everything had already been looted, or the server just didn't have much stuff on it. I have scavenged for hours and found only one source of food. Maybe you need to join more populated servers where the food source is more scarce. I don't think I have ever been to one single city and looted 8 cans of anything. Except soda which seems to spawn on occasion in quantity. Not sure how the mechanic is set up, but hunger will always be an issue, maybe just not for you at the moment. I couldn't believe how much the character has to eat in one day to not get hungry. In real life I'd way 1000lbs by now eating at the rate I have to eat in the game.

[/quote']

keep in mind that this is an idea for DayZ the game, not DayZ the mod. by the time DayZ is a game, people will be able to build fortifications and recolonize in makeshift cities.

My idea is that the map and playstyle will change as time progresses. You start out with an abundance of canned foods and then slowly dwindle down to nothing. By the time food runs out, entire cities/villages will have already sprung up with players and food storage. Also, I play in a group of 10. If you play by yourself, then i could see why food might be an issue.

[Quaby 93]

I like the idea. I think berries should stack(4?) since they give so little time. Add a nice little dynamic to the game.