Suggestions for the DayZ standalone - thinking outside of the limitations of an Arma 2 mod.

[Berhemoth 3]

making bushes as camoflage around tent/hideout

[The L!ne 31]

i dont know if that was already suggested:

please part the clothes in different classes like shoes, trousers, jackets, hats/helmets, gloves... so you can individualise your character quite well.

So if I want i can walk through the forest with a bright yellow trouser and a pink sweatshirt just because i want it. Please let the player decide how to hide the best way. This will need a quite big variety of clothes in all classes...

[twinturbonet (DayZ) 294]

i dont know if that was already suggested:

please part the clothes in different classes like shoes, trousers, jackets, hats/helmets, gloves... so you can individualise your character quite well.

So if I want i can walk through the forest with a bright yellow trouser and a pink sweatshirt just because i want it. Please let the player decide how to hide the best way. This will need a quite big variety of clothes in all classes...

Yep, mentioned by Rocket. More clothing options etc.

[dadde 0]

Seasons would be nice too.

[Publik 404]

"Pain" or shock, or whatever you need painkillers to cure, should only last a set amount of time. I was eaten by a tent the other day and was out of painkillers (and at full blood/temp/food/water) and had to hike up to NE to find another box. If you're perfectly fine you ought to get over the pain after a while.

[2goat2 2]

I think there should be paint (like cans of spray paint) in the standalone version. This would be so we can paint messages to other players, customise vehicles, etc.

[X01 0]

Here are my ideas.

First one I'm not sure I particularly care for, but its an idea.

Character Classes- Have specific classes that have passive skills that cannot be improved or deminished, unless hurt. This is kind of like a military survival game, so I figured it might be good to have specialist. I can see people using characters as loot mules.. not sure how to counter that though.

Surviver Classes

(Survivor Class) Soldier class- Weapon ammo can stack on one slot up to 3 mags. Has 5k more blood. Starts with M1911 with 1 clip. Can swim and run faster. Can reload 10% quicker. Can shoot through some materials.

(Bandit Class) Stalker class- Footsteps are completely silent when finding quiet boots (see below) slow crouch walking, has higher chance at finding gillie suites by 1%. Can zero with any scoped items +50%. Can swim quietly and swim under water (Hold breathe). Starts with tent. Can see better at night up to 20 meters.

(N/A Class) Engineer Class- Has 1% higher chance of finding car parts in industrial areas. Vehicles can drive faster and take less damage. Starts with tool box. Weapon durability last longer when created/fixed by engineer. Can blow up some walls or make a hole in a building with demo charges.

(Hero Class) Medic Class- Higher chance of finding medical supplies. Can bandage wounds faster and bleeds out slower. Can kill knocked out survivors with lethal injections. Blood regenerates over time- 200/minute. Medical items stack up to 3.

Zombie Classes

These zombies all are super rare, I've seen the armored zombie in some other mods, but lacked any real purpose.

Armored Zombie- Has more armor and head shots can take two shots with ones wearing helmets.

Loot Zombie- Make this a super rare zombie that travels and will pickup loot and put it in a backpack, only picks up rare items and some food.

Screamer Zombie- Screams at the site of a survivor rallying other zombies.

New Items-

More clothing choices, at least 3 different military suites: American, Russian, Guerrilla. Boot types- ie Quieter boots, or shoes. Make it so shoes can affect your warmth though or ability to swim.

For silenced weapons- you should have to find a silencer for the weapon, and make it extremely rare to find a silencer already assembled on the weapon. Also make it so all weapons can be silenced, but make the silence caliber and weapon specific, for example- a silencer for the m16 will fit on an m4.

These are my ideas, not sure the class thing should be added.. because I love the way the game is played now, but I do think for the new items that should be integrated asap if possible.

[Berhemoth 3]

i dont like things like clases it is limiting i think better will be small start bonus like

1)i was soldier/mercenary small start bonus slightly better aim, more weight cariage (weight shuld be in game) and little more health ...

2)i was medic medical skills ...

3)i was mechanic better repair skills and sill of upgrading car/helicopter ...

4)i was hunter/poacher better aim and little more hiden for zombies ...

5)...(more)

but if i was medic i can learn/gain any other bonus/skill simply by operating activities and it should not be large difference rther it should be small

second thing zombie types

someone who was good runner/sprinter = fast zombe

someone who was blind = blind zombie can hear you pretty easy but he can not see

someone who was invalid/disabled = can not walk

zombie which lost arm/leg = less health less danger (easy kill)

someone who was stupid = zombie atacking zombie (funny to watch)

zombified survivor = better loot example:2 can of food, 1 can of soda, some ammo and ...

Edited December 4, 2012 by Berhemoth

[johnbello 1]

The weapon sorting from everywhere to hyper rare.. i really think it needs an improvement.

i mean, some weapons on that list are very common, and i personally think the standalone version has to make the game more about surviving again, and not about shooting other players.

don't get me wrong, i'm a bandit type of player myself, but if the game would make you seriously think twice about taking a shot at someone it would be an huuuge improvement.

so firearms in general, everything non-melee based should be seriously rare.

some houses could have a handgun in a drawer, or if you are lucky you find a hunting rifle - but these guns have to be so rare that you don't actually want to risk losing them again.

also ammo - right now it takes you barely 30 minutes to find an ak with about 6 mags, and you keep finding mags for them on the run like they grow on trees.

if it would be realistic, there would be like one revolver in a house with probably 2 clips - and finding more for the revolver would be something really exciting.

there could be gun stores around the cities, that usually would yield more stuff, most likely some ammo, but they would be tough to reach, some players may barricade in them,

these things basically are meant for the early game.. it just sucks right now like, you spawn and instantly find an lee enfield, and there is fuckign war everywhere - this is so very unrealistic.

[Bakst 98]

First one I'm not sure I particularly care for, but its an idea.

Character Classes- Have specific classes that have passive skills that cannot be improved or deminished, unless hurt. This is kind of like a military survival game, so I figured it might be good to have specialist. I can see people using characters as loot mules.. not sure how to counter that though.

i dont like things like clases it is limiting i think better will be small start bonus like

1)i was soldier/mercenary small start bonus slightly better aim, more weight cariage (weight shuld be in game) and little more health ...

2)i was medic medical skills ...

3)i was mechanic better repair skills and sill of upgrading car/helicopter ...

4)i was hunter/poacher better aim and little more hiden for zombies ...

5)...(more)

but if i was medic i can learn/gain any other bonus/skill simply by operating activities and it should not be large difference rther it should be small

second thing zombie types

someone who was good runner/sprinter = fast zombe

someone who was blind = blind zombie can hear you pretty easy but he can not see

someone who was invalid/disabled = can not walk

zombie which lost arm/leg = less health less danger (easy kill)

someone who was stupid = zombie atacking zombie (funny to watch)

zombified survivor = better loot example:2 can of food, 1 can of soda, some ammo and ...

Yeah I'm still very skeptical of having classes in the game, I'm not sure that would work in DayZ. Who knows, maybe it's a great idea, but so far it's been entirely up to the players how they define their roles within a group, and that has worked just fine. You're good at flying/driving vehicles? Great, you're now officially the designated driver. Got a loose trigger finger? Okay, lead the assault. Like to keep a low profile? Be our scout. Got a steady aim? Designated marksman. Et cetera!

My point is this: Who needs classes when you can just be what you wanna be?

But I admit that I can think of several ways in which classes might improve gameplay. For one, it would provide incentives for trying out new survival strategies. As was mentioned earlier in this thread, it could also mean that some classes would be more challenging than others (arthritic granny), which might be a nice change of pace for some of the more seasoned players. Classes would probably also make squad play a little easier, although I think this is also a weakness as these pre-defined roles would quickly lead to a more boring sort of gameplay. The other problem is that in most games, classes come with a certain set of gear (mages get a staff but cannot use melee weapons, swordsman can only use one-handed melee, etc.) but you can't do that in DayZ, making classes somewhat irrelevant in the end.

So all in all I think it's the wrong approach for an open sandbox game like DayZ.

[NormanVauxhall 8]

After seeing the "DayZ Stastistics thread" I've thought that could be used for an "After Death Replay" like the one you can see after finishing a game in any Sid Meyer's Civilization chapter, similar to "the life flashing before your eyes when you die!". An essential list of event done in the last life, with details of where and when it happens.

Could be an interesting storytelling tool.

I don't want to flood with to much details info this thread. More details here, in a dedicated thread.

Please comment, suggest and react about it. Thanks.

[Berhemoth 3]

i know clases in mmo like mage is limiting you for only mage stuff but i think somthing different you got small bonus in lets say marksman stuff but it dont mean you can use only marksman stuff you can use anything and evrything you can find and after some time you get small bonus in this area like when i carry lot of stuff long time enough i can carry heavier stuff (weigth) lets say from start 30kg after some time it will be 35kg or after using machinegun i will have 2% less recoil or reparing i will get ability to upgrade vehicles so after some time i will be more usefull for team

[Dalfryth 2]

Zombie Classes

These zombies all are super rare, I've seen the armored zombie in some other mods, but lacked any real purpose.

Armored Zombie- Has more armor and head shots can take two shots with ones wearing helmets.

Loot Zombie- Make this a super rare zombie that travels and will pickup loot and put it in a backpack, only picks up rare items and some food.

Screamer Zombie- Screams at the site of a survivor rallying other zombies.

I like some of these ideas... i'll expand slightly on what i thought on reading it:

- the "armour" zombies could basically be the military personnel (they would be wearing helmets, body armour etc so should be harder to kill)... headshot with small calibre weapons would take 2 (or more) rounds.

- not sure about the loot zombie the way you have described it... however you could includde something similar but, for example, have a zombie that is walking around with a small backpack on... these zombies could be a person that on infection had been heading back from the shops or whatever so could be carrying some more tins of food, possibly painkillers... would be slightly better loot but not so much as to be game breaking.

- love the idea of screamer zombies... not sure how it would work (with regards to various countries censorship laws) but would be a good way to include child/female zombie models that (as you said) would screech on locating a player... would seriously add to the tension if, on your way back out of a looting run you spot a "screamer" and find yourself having to either (A) take cover and wait it out or ( B) find a different route or risk having every zombie for a fair distance closing down on your location.

just my thoughts on this... nice idea though :)

*EDIT*

after reading a bit more (more people discussing classes)... how about something similar to how UO was (going back a *few* years here)... you have a set maximum number of skill points and a series of skills... you can never have all skills maxed out and to improve skills you have to repeatedly do said action... i'll try to do a DayZ based example...

- you have (for example) 500 skill points maximum

there are:

-survival based skills (hunting/tracking, foraging (if they include foraged foods) etc etc.)

-combat based skills (pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifle etc etc)

-utility skills (mechanic, medic etc)

-other skills (running, stealth etc).

now... you have to decide which way you want your character to be... obviously you cant take all the skills to maximum level but you can choose to become specialised at a few or a "jack of all trades"... would have to include benefits for higher skill levels in the various skills

e.g. for every 10% skill level you get:

- improved scoped stability for the sniper rifle skill

- improved running speed for the running skill

- improved accuracy with pistols

etc etc

this would mean people that have survived a long time would become highly skilled people (as you would become if you had to spend every day surviving)

as you get each skill to the level you want you could be able to "lock" it so as to not have it drop on improving some other skills...

only downside to this i can think of at the minute is that you would probably find a lot of people running around the wilderness to improve their running skill (however with the food/drink requirement they would have to spend a chunk more time going into towns to get food/drink)

one of the things i can see as being a pro to this idea is that if someone has (again... for example) the assault rifle skill and they find a sniper rifle, they would have a tougher choice on whether to upgrade or not... should also make it a tougher choice on whether or not to shoot another player because you cant just swap and change weapons without having to (potentially) change some skills.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Dalfryth

[DiazWaffleCrabstro 39]

-Instead of the randomly killing doors, lets make all the doors giant bear traps, so when you open one, it chops your head off. :D

-Instead of eating both the beans and the can, make the survivor do the pop eye spinach pop eating animation, and throw the can at a zombies face killing it.

-Instead of fitting all that shit you carry on your toolbelt, Have a separate section in backbag called "Anus" and it begins at space slots used 0 / ∞

-give diabetes to characters who pick up 10 sodas and drink em all, also give them the new perk of bad bladder control for 3 hours, and make em need to take a piss(or piss their pants and momentarily gain heat, but after that lose it faster for a long period) like Fuller in home alone.

-Make crouching zombies Gangnam style zombies, Walking zombies chuck norris zombies, and the crawling zombies Snake zombies(MGS)

-Make choppers into the Kim jong un adventures chopper

-Give people the option to hold their breath when firing a gun, or for autoerotic asphyxiation or just hold it till their face turns blue and theu drop dead(this would make it so much easier to kill yourself if you spawn to a shitty spot or away from your mate, instead of running for 8 minutes to find 1 zombie)

-Make it so that some of the canned foods are novelty prank items with some of those spring snakes inside.

-Add addictions, like get addicted to morphine( i would be by now because i inject myself with them for the hell of it) like 2-3 uses in a day = addiction chance goes way up.

-Add virtual booze

-Add the hermit mode: You find less when you move alot during your travels, find more when you patrol the same area, and you grow a beard, and you are made more aware of other people trying to go for your shineys

-Add some new tool items; Like the cow bell, attach it to a zombie and watch the horde go after the oblivious zombie, or attach it to yourself and see how many zombies you can lead to elektro, like a piper :D

-Add duct tape, this game could use some.

-add better chat options than arma2 gives you(limited range that is)

-More animals, i wanna hunt elephants with my makarov, i would love the challenge of that.

-Add blue waffles to the menu items.

-Also add cottage cheese.

-Add cults, bandit camps you can join(player ran communities) like the "Bean knights" or "Sisterhood of the shotgun" or "Green peace, zombies deserve to live" or " Pineapple Farmers" w/e

-Obsolete military ranks and obscene amounts of them

-Needs, such as sleep, company, sexual drives (hey even a zombie cooch will go in chernarus, right guys?)

Edited December 4, 2012 by DiazWaffleCrabstro

[DiazWaffleCrabstro 39]

i know clases in mmo like mage is limiting you for only mage stuff but i think somthing different you got small bonus in lets say marksman stuff but it dont mean you can use only marksman stuff you can use anything and evrything you can find and after some time you get small bonus in this area like when i carry lot of stuff long time enough i can carry heavier stuff (weigth) lets say from start 30kg after some time it will be 35kg or after using machinegun i will have 2% less recoil or reparing i will get ability to upgrade vehicles so after some time i will be more usefull for team

i dont mean to be a dick, but dont you think 2% would feel just like a fart in the opposite direction?

[DemonGroover 8836]

I know Rocket has spoken of adding various things regarding injuries, but what kind of injuries would you like to see?

Sure we got broken legs but what about other things? Pulled hamstrings, sprained ankles, broken arms, cracked skull....

All should be manageable but of course have a detrimental effect until proper medical attention is applied. For example, you break your arm then you can only use one handed weapons.

[nmv06 8]

Well, i'm not sure how the inventory/clothing system will work, but if you will have the chance to change clothes(pants, jacket, hat, shoes) then i would guess adding blisters on your feet, if you are wet, because of rain or you just went trough water, and you start running 5-6 km in the same shoes, then you will start getting blisters, which at first will only be a small annoyance making walking and running somewhat slower, but if left untreated should start to get infected, leading to much worse pain on the foot, maybe even gangrene

[DragoKnight 5]

I think you can get a broken arm and need a sling, broken rib and need something(I don't know), and broken leg splint, also maybe badly twisting or spraining an ankle which you would need to limp around, and also swollen foot, I had experience and they hurt like hell, you cant walk unless you get crutches and it would heal either crawling or crutches for a few hours like 10-20 even though swollen feet take couple of days. Headaches and need ice-packs and medicine. Also gashes to to skin so you lose lots of blood you would need bandage disinfectant and blood transfusion. And rarely a disease that kills like the zombie disease but doesn't turn you just quickly kills you, would need antibiotics to keep it at bay and a serum to cure it at military bases and at hospital.

[Berhemoth 3]

i dont mean to be a dick, but dont you think 2% would feel just like a fart in the opposite direction?

it is example and when i was thinking of it little more i got to this:

when you start new character you will have to crate your characters histora (somthing like in mount and blade)

1)ma father was:hunter, soldier, car mechanic, ...(lets say 18 options)

his hobby was ...

he was spanding time with me only little, ..., lot of time

2)my mother (similar as father)

3)when ia was young my hobby (2 or 3) optins

4)my high school was (12 options)

5)my job was (18 optinons)

6) did i join army yes/no

7)i am immune to virus yes/no

from this you will get points to some skill each skill have max 10000 points (no levels) so you have starting points as bonus so if i make real my life profile no problem it is not limiting my to this character type because i can learn any skill in game lets say reloding speed max 10% or 20% increas

car mechanic (there should be more types like fuel tank new, old, old rusty) so new will give 95% good mechanic will install new and it will have 100% beginer 95% and old fuel tak have 60% old rusty 20% but skilled mechanic (6000 points) can repair them (need tools) old 68% old rusty 27%

so i change fuel tank put in new one so old one will go in my inventory

marksman skilled can hold longer breath

and so on

[Bakst 98]

I know Rocket has spoken of adding various things regarding injuries, but what kind of injuries would you like to see?

Sure we got broken legs but what about other things? Pulled hamstrings, sprained ankles, broken arms, cracked skull....

All should be manageable but of course have a detrimental effect until proper medical attention is applied. For example, you break your arm then you can only use one handed weapons.

I should totally ask my doctor friends about this... but off the top of my head, I can think of the following injuries (strictly mostly injuries, not illnesses; with symptoms thx to wikipedia):

Bone fracture (limbs, ribs, spine, skull) and joint dislocation

The medical field has defined many different types of fractures, but for the purposes of this list I have limited them to more general categories.

Symptoms for all fractures:

• severe recurring pain (requires a steady diet of painkillers)
  
• chance of internal bleeding (cannot be stopped, or requires coagulants maybe?)
  
• chance of secondary infection if left untreated
  

Limbs/extremities (arms/hands & legs/feet):

• affected limb is crippled (cannot shoot/use/run/walk/etc.)
  
• upper arms, thighs and pelvis are most susceptible to internal bleeding (up to 10% blood loss)
  
• heals with splint over time; crutches/cane speeds up healing process
  

Rib cage:

• difficulty breathing (severely reduced stamina, cannot run)
  
• chance of chest infection due to cough suppression (use painkillers)
  
• self-heals over time; resting speeds up healing process
  

Spine/neck:

• spinal fracture (esp. lower back): severely impaired mobility, high chance of permanent paralysis
  
• cervical fracture (broken neck): additional near-certain chance of instant death
  
• lesser fractures can be healed with a brace fixture over a long period of time (mobility remains impaired)
  

Skull:

• concussion from blunt force may cause temporary unconsciousness and lasting trauma EDIT: Knock people out like in the movies! lolz
  
• skull fracture can cause neurological and/or brain damage (impaired vision, hallucinations?) with a chance of death (either instant or slow due to internal bleeding within the cranium)
  
• linear fractures require no intervention (self-healing), whereas other types may be terminal or require surgery
  

​Joint dislocation:

• intense pain (use painkillers)
  
• cripples affected joint/limb (until set)
  
• joint must be set (either by self or another player) to heal
  

Temperature-related injuries: burn, frostbite

Burn wounds:

• caused by standing too close to a heat source for a certain amount of time
  
• besides heat burn, there is also electrical, chemical, sunlight and radiation burn
  
• severity determines symptoms/treatment (1st, 2nd and 3rd-degree burns)
  
• 1st-degree burn causes some temporary scarring of the skin and minor pain (use painkillers, self-heals)
  
• 2nd-degree burn causes permanent scar tissue, severe pain and nausea, and may lead to complications (see below)
  
• 3rd-degree burns are life-threatening and extremely painful
  
• complications from severe burns may include shock, infection, organ failure, difficulty breathing, and death
  
• burn wounds should be dressed (bandage); recurring pain may require steady diet of painkillers; extra water needed due to heightened thirst from loss of electrolytes EDIT: "Brawndo's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes!" ;)
  
• chemical or radiation burns require specialized treatment and may include additional symptoms such as infection, bleeding, or neurological damage
  

Frostbite:

• 1st-degree frostbite ("frostnip") causes minor pain
  
• 2nd-degree frostbite causes pain and blisters but will self-heal
  
• 3rd and 4th-degree frostbite: severe pain, limb is disabled temporarily and in severe cases permanently
  
• occurs from long-time exposure to excessive cold, requires heat (indoors, heat pack, etc.) and optional painkillers
  

Intoxication: poison, drugs

Various ill effects could be introduced based on different types of toxins; here are a few examples:

biotoxins (venom): predation and defense mechanisms of animals (e.g. spiders, snakes, scorpions, bees); may include:

• cyanotoxins may cause death by respiratory failure
  
• hemotoxins attack red blood cells, are very painful, and can cause tissue damage, loss of affected limb, and death
  
• necrotoxins kill tissue cells esp. in muscles & skin, causing pain, dismemberment and death
  
• neurotoxins affect the central nervous system, causing temporary or permanent paralysis and possible death by organ failure
  
• there are many other toxins... Rocket, ask your brother the virologist about this! ;)
  

EDIT: I'm pretty far out of my depth on this subject, but afaik only a handful of naturally occurring exotic biotoxins are actually lethal to humans; apparently most common venoms (from spiders, scorpions and other creepy-crawlers) are only mildly painful, cause minor symptoms like swelling, and go away after some time even without treatment. Of course, if you're allergic to bees then that changes your outlook quite a bit -- perhaps allergies could be introduced, at least that would give the epi-pen some purpose!

Pharmaceuticals and narcotics:

• Misuse (or abuse) of drugs can cause all kinds of ill effects; even proper administration of certain drugs may have side effects
  
• Narcotics can have various effects and may lead to addiction (esp. stimulants such as amphetamines or steroids, which would surely be popular in a survival scenario)
  

Well that's all for now. I know a lot of this has been mentioned before, both by the community and the devs themselves, but this is my contribution, who knows maybe there's an original suggestion in there somewhere.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Bakst

[Bakst 98]

when you start new character you will have to crate your characters histora (somthing like in mount and blade)

I'm starting to like the idea. Putting together a "personal history" in the character selection screen instead of selecting explicit skill points would be pretty neat, actually. But it also sounds like a somewhat tedious process that might annoy a lot of players who just want to dive in; they would need a few ready-made characters... but this is where we begin to move into decidedly RPG territory, and I'm not sure this is what the devs have envisioned.

[twinturbonet (DayZ) 294]

I really hope for no "classes" or any beneficial gains when creating a character.

[Berhemoth 3]

But it also sounds like a somewhat tedious process that might annoy a lot of players who just want to dive in; they would need a few ready-made characters... but this is where we begin to move into decidedly RPG territory, and I'm not sure this is what the devs have envisioned.

yes of course you can choose start with 0 for each skill, make this history random, make preset for next use or every time diferent only one thing you must chose evry time if you are imune to this zombie virus (somthing like chosing dificulty)

[Kiruzon 1]

If they add this in, this game will be the best game ever made.

[rdietl10 2]

I never red this Idead before but it would be awesome if someone would read it and spread it. :)

In my opinion Instruments like Guitars would be awesome. :) I remember the old times spending some minutes around a campfire in Stalker and just listen to the music. :)