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

[ruarz 739]

This thread is celebrating its 300th tin of beans :lol: :beans: :beans: :beans: keep the suggestions coming,,, :D

[L.Cpl_Lonnon 0]

It has been mentioned before, but I thought I'd like to add it here, the ability to harvest items like fruit and vegtables from the land would be good. For instance pumpkins have been known to grow in gardens in chernarus. You could use an item to harvest it. In the case of a pumpkin it would probably take up two inventory slots.

[MouseDenton 6]

I've got a couple things I'll just leave here instead of making my own thread for:

Police skins - When someone has a high bandit-to-murder ration (as in killed a crap ton more bandits than non-bandits), they get a police skin, which could be a black KGB-like trench coat and Ushanka cap that could help conceal them from night-vision.

Clan/Legion skins - Maybe official clans could create their own set of clothes or something with a custom logo to verify their membership. It'd make something like the TMW easier to identify.

First-aid kit - I came up with this while playing a lot of stalker: basically it's a large bag (could replace backpack or go into secondary weapon slot) that can be used to heal all medical ailments. It has durability meters for each treatment available, and they must be resupplied, but at a much more economic rate than, say, using painkillers or morphine directly. You'd pick up some painkillers and put them into the bag, and it'd multiply their use since you're doing through this large, somehow encombersome, utility.

Hand drawn HUD - I also got frustrated with the ARMA HUD and dreamed up an alternative that could fit in with the whole scavenging-zombie apocalypse. All information is presented as hand-drawn/written on scraps of paper, and when injured the pieces get more and more blood splatter on them, making the info harder to read.

[CrazyJim 0]

Hi. I read some forum till now and found few concepts very nice. I also thought about what changes, implementations should be made ingame and how far can we get with a TOH engine. I really thought i`t will be made of Arma 3 (just loved the E3 presentation online). What i liked especially, and what I would like to see in this game, and definietely what would not hit the engine (or would it?), was:

1. Running depends on some sort of stamina (possibly boosted by some kind of pills/drinks/energetic bars etc). That would make a game harder. Right now I can run all the map out there. It is also a grat idea to make food more diverse.

2. It is not a problem to get a gun and ammunition. Some restrictions could make a survivor fight for their life. Just like in the first point it would make a game harder. This especially matters when it comes to sniper rifles for what I can see.

3. Collectibles! and other stuff to make another day in a postapocalyptic world worth fighting for. I really liked to collect cards, people could be interested also with magazines, some old newspapars maybe, focused on explaining what had happend. (didn`t found that on forum - bad luck i guess?). Collectibles could give some boosts as well. Like for an example, hunting magazines, some simple stuff.

4. If a team would like to make a game more pvp/coop, some sort of illnes could be introduced, curable only by specific actions taken by the players (I like the idea in the Adrenaline movie). It`s a simple suggestion.

5 I liked someone`s concept to make survivor look different. A decent character creation would be awesome, not exacly for a face changing but some clothing customization would be great.

6. Someone mentioned a zombie crowd moving through the map. I had on mind rather some kind of a military patrol slowly moving and killing the infected and the survivors on sight. Remember that Outbreak movie? or not to mention Half Life Opposing Force?

Obviously I remember this is still just a game and many simplifications are welcome. But I have on mind that we do not have to play a raw survival game here. Cheers.

[Alex0 1]

Hi, as I'm a bit lazy, I haven't read all the posts and wanted to make a suggestion, which might have already been said.

I believe as zombies should have much more loot. More food, some weapons maybe, or even medical supplies, like a doctor trying to help people gets infected, or a would-be-survivor dies and has stuff on himself.

This would be great with the increased number of player accessable buildings and decreased frequency of loot in there.

[Bombolz (DayZ) 23]

I've stumbled across this link: http://www.crydev.net/viewtopic.php?f=308&t=77581

It is a mod for crysis but is still in pre-alpha. Now, this game is no where near the capabilities of dayz, but if possible I want the dayz urban areas to look somewhat similar to this. The images afterwards of the forest.... don't look anywhere near as great. But what I'm also pointing out is that the darkness in this game, should have to be brighter in cities. Because generally when it is too dark, I generally change servers, but I would really like to play in a dark area. So what I'm suggesting is the cities be more brighter like in the pictures...but not that bright. Otherwise people would be afraid to play in servers at night time. This also makes me consider another thing, dual wielder, now don't get angry, what I mean by this is that you should be able to hold a flashlight as well as a pistol, not like dual pistols or anything. I just want to be able to see and have a gun out at the same time. Also, there should be attachments such as flashlights on bigger guns, or possibly a mining helmet as loot (then you won't need a light since its on your helmet).

Thanks for reading :)

[Bombolz (DayZ) 23]

5 I liked someone`s concept to make survivor look different. A decent character creation would be awesome, not exacly for a face changing but some clothing customization would be great.

6. Someone mentioned a zombie crowd moving through the map. I had on mind rather some kind of a military patrol slowly moving and killing the infected and the survivors on sight. Remember that Outbreak movie? or not to mention Half Life Opposing Force?

Obviously I remember this is still just a game and many simplifications are welcome. But I have on mind that we do not have to play a raw survival game here. Cheers.

I agree, it would be more fun having different A.I.s added in. A military patrol that shoots anyone on sight sounds not just realistic but would also improve the gameplay, if you think about it, as soon as you hear a car engine, then this just adds to your panick. I would also like to see other types of zombies, e.g. - animal zombies - such as dogs...

A character customization is also nice, but not required for such a game, although different clothes would definitely need to be in there, but I think that rocket is also added new clothes into the dayZ standalone. Since that we're on the topic of appearance, I also considered armor, right now, your survivor starts with some sort of protection, whether or not rocket chooses if you start of with one or not is their choice, but I want to see more types of armors being implemented. And armors may provide different benefits, so there isn't a best armor, it depends on your style of play, although there isn't a best armor, there certainly would be some shoddy armor... but what I meant by not having a best armor is certain armors provide different benefits - more protection and less mobility, or you want to be able to get out of situations quickly before you are actually attacked, or would you choose to balance between the two, also take into account 'fatigue', the heavier your armor, the more likely your are to get fatigued. Another choice you would have to make is, do you want more protection against, zombies or against bullets?

And while I'm still on the topic of suggestion, maybe a quicker way to heal yourself rather than regenerating it over a large time? And the ability to light a fire in a trash can - sorta like a homeless person would do when it is cold. and this leads me yet to another question - how drastic is the weather system? Is there a possibility of snow? - how often will it snow? Or - how often will it rain? Either way it doesn't matter too much to me, because I'm sure rocket will make the best decisions.

BTW This is by far my new favourite game, since I've always talked to my friends about a more real survival based game and how this will work, but I've never once considered permanent death, such a simple but great idea. I like the perma-death so they should definitely keep that. Keep up the good work Rocket!

Again, this is just purely my opinion and suggestion.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Bombolz

[F-ashbang 18]

I have a fun ide for the standalone. This is actualy inspired by a funny tinfoil hat remark Rocket posted to a guy on a forum tread i made today. This is a sugestion that may be alittle complicated to make. Picture yourself the radio that is imposible to find right now. And really dont have any function. What if its put into the standalone. You are lucky to find it maybe up by the radio tower. While walking around you suddenly pick up a fm radiosignal. You hear a voice from a mobile housewagon radiostation. Just like the movie 2012. A crazy guy in a tinfoil hat rambeling on about how the goverment screwed us all, and the world have come to a end. You search around the area and find the station parked somewhere in the wods. (random place on each server restart) you interact with the door, and you wil be given map cord for a helicrash.

[indominator 95]

more vegetation

[Grayswandir 4]

Okay, so i made an account just to add some thoughts and going through the topic (took me hours), I saw that a lot of people had the same ideas as me but I'll repeat some of them anyway (without referencing anyone cause I can't remember whose ideas they are).

Endgame

Oddly enough I'd like to begin with the endgame stuff, because that is what will keep the people playing... It really surprised me that there are many people who want to see safe zones, NPC's, in-game trading system, instances and missions in a game such as this. I really hope there is no such thing in the standalone because i like the current idea of DayZ as a NO RULES(imperative) /open world/FPS/sandbox/survival/zombie apocalypse. //note that I didn't write ''real time'' because I would like to see a monthly change of seasons and quicker day/night cycles... but that's just me//.

The reason (i think) for people wanting all that stuff is because there is too much pvp even if you just started the game which leaves you at a major disadvantage...and people expect more content when you get everything you need to survive in DayZ mod (the game difficulty drops like a hot potato once you get that thermal vision). This can be adressed by making no one safe even when they have all the best gear and a base (harder and more zombies, scarce ammo/food/items, harder sniping...because not everyone is a natural-born sharpshooter, a realistic stamina system etc...). In a nutshell, the game should be hard enough to keep everybody on their toes enough so they don't even get to ask themselves ''ok, i'm safe, now what?"...

Of course, variety, being the spice of life (and no-life) should also be much greater, but not too much of course. Hitting the sweetspot for variety is going to be a real challenge for the devs. And I don't just mean the amount of different guns but also items, scenery, buildings, the infected, all the details, everything...

I don't think anyone is looking forward to a 50 Gb game.

Infected

I would like to see something that you can find in-game that provides some clue to a backstory of the infection or at least a glimpse at what happened during the first outbreaks. Scattered notebooks, voice recorders, cameras... anything... i think it would add a level of depth to the game.

I would like to see infected as ''The Walking Dead'' type, as opposed to the "28 days/weeks after" sprinters. Also, a percentage system to decide if a survivor is infected after contact or not... Using antibiotics could lower that chance but not eliminate it completely. "x" hours after contact, the survivor may or may not succumb to the infection. Initially, I was against this idea, but then I saw that someone suggested a vaccine to be introduced in the game (very rare find, of course), and that is what changed my mind at the end. It would add a different dimension to the game because once you are bitten, you have to make a choice:

Do you and your comrades risk putting all your effort in finding antibiotics and/or a vaccine?

Do you rely on a chance that you are not infected and/or that the antibiotics solved your problem?

That is what I want from a survival game. Hard decisions. All.the.time.

The sand box

Location/setting/map... Call it what ever you want. Just make it BIG so that vehicle transportation becomes much more valuable!

Also, more and more people are getting into this game... And i don't want an overcrowded server. I expect a limit to be set so that encountering other players is not too common. It is going to be a bugger getting the sweetspot for this because servers cost money... less servers=>crowded. And, knowing what the gaming industry has come to, I have a bad feeling about this. Just make it a big map... please.

I would like to see a prison, stadium, smaller bridges, and if there is a river system and lake, a dam would be pretty awesome. O.O

Weapons

I'll keep this short:

Bows, Slingshots and crossbows could be good silent ranged weapons...

BB gun (I know, fallout ripoff, sue me), flamethrower, land mines ...maybe even bouncing betties so if you sneak around a bandit base and hear a click, you have to leave your backpack to keep the weight on the mine while you go get a rock or anything heavy to keep the mine from blowing up... until someone picks it up of course.

Also rope could be used as a tripping trap for players and the infected. Bind two trees with a rope at ankle hight and you have a means of slowing down whoever is chasing you.

Melee: makeshift spear, chainsaw, baseball bat, hockey stick, golf club, anything that cracks infected skulls. This contributes to gore.

Also, combining a bowling ball with gasoline (or gunpowder) and a rag could make a bowling molotov with much more destructive shrapnel...

This post is getting too long and chaotic so I'll end it here. I do have more suggestions and ideas, but maybe another time...

[Bombolz (DayZ) 23]

Actually, to build on that i was pondering the idea of a skill system. Naturally the more you do something, the better you *should* become at it. If you spend a lot of time repairing vehicles, your skill would improve, and you would need less materials to repair a vehicle. Same applies with field medic, rifleman etc. A percentage of skill points could be lost on player death, for added bumfuckery.

I agree with you to some extent, if there was going to be a skill system, rather than starting off as a specific class (like in dead frontier), as mentioned above, the skill set should go somewhat similar to the elder scrolls (3 and above). As in, the more you do it, the better you get. Also note that this game does have permanent death, and if a player were to die, either they'd lose all of the skills they had earned, or lose a vast quantity. - But then again, a skill system is what confuses me, do we REALLY want a skill system? Would it help the game?

[Bombolz (DayZ) 23]

And also, for me, the map is a big factor for me. This is only my opinion, but DayZ was very lacking in urban areas, and I wish to see that the map has both tropical and urban areas. The map needs to get bigger as more and more people begin to play the game, this also leads to servers containing a much larger quantity.

[therealroccomac@gmail.com 2]

I've not read every single post or scoured the forums for this idea but to me it seems like a simple one and I would be surprised if it hasn't been suggested yet but I'll toss it out there anyway.

What posts I have read have some great ideas in them but many of them seem to be geared towards the lonewolf player. All I really want is the ability to "link" squad mates. It's not often I play DayZ alone. I'm almost always with at least 1 friend. We're not always out looking for pvp. Much of the time we're moving from place to place searching for loot to better our chances for survival when the pvp encounter does present itself.

In those instances when your ability to survive in a squad vs squad encounter hinges on communication and tactical play.. it would be nice if your squad mates would show up on GPS or your map. I think the best way to implement this functionality would be to add an option for "Add to squad" while scrolling on a squad mate as if you're getting into their backpack or giving a blood transfusion. Of course the player you're trying to add to your squad would have to confirm your request to add via a prompt of some sort before they show up on your GPS/Map.

I really enjoy the tactical side of DayZ during squad vs squad encounters and I think being able to actually form a squad by linking players in the way I've described would save some of the frustration of trying to describe your location to a squad mate when you're in the middle of the woods and your best landmarks are 2 big trees and a rock.

As I said... just tossing it out there and forgive my laziness for not looking through all the previous posts for this suggestion, if it's already been suggested.

[Bombolz (DayZ) 23]

I've not read every single post or scoured the forums for this idea but to me it seems like a simple one and I would be surprised if it hasn't been suggested yet but I'll toss it out there anyway.

What posts I have read have some great ideas in them but many of them seem to be geared towards the lonewolf player. All I really want is the ability to "link" squad mates. It's not often I play DayZ alone. I'm almost always with at least 1 friend. We're not always out looking for pvp. Much of the time we're moving from place to place searching for loot to better our chances for survival when the pvp encounter does present itself.

In those instances when your ability to survive in a squad vs squad encounter hinges on communication and tactical play.. it would be nice if your squad mates would show up on GPS or your map. I think the best way to implement this functionality would be to add an option for "Add to squad" while scrolling on a squad mate as if you're getting into their backpack or giving a blood transfusion. Of course the player you're trying to add to your squad would have to confirm your request to add via a prompt of some sort before they show up on your GPS/Map.

I really enjoy the tactical side of DayZ during squad vs squad encounters and I think being able to actually form a squad by linking players in the way I've described would save some of the frustration of trying to describe your location to a squad mate when you're in the middle of the woods and your best landmarks are 2 big trees and a rock.

As I said... just tossing it out there and forgive my laziness for not looking through all the previous posts for this suggestion, if it's already been suggested.

I totally agree with you, I really want some sort of buddy, or squad system. I want to be able to add players, but I'm not sure whether this would ruin the authenticity of the game, but I wouldn't mind too much if they chose not to include it. I just hope they have better servers, since I tend to lose track of my friends because of the lag.

[indominator 95]

I totally agree with you, I really want some sort of buddy, or squad system. I want to be able to add players, but I'm not sure whether this would ruin the authenticity of the game, but I wouldn't mind too much if they chose not to include it. I just hope they have better servers, since I tend to lose track of my friends because of the lag.

keep in mind that if the game goes totally realistic, some possible playstyles that are essential to massive games emergent game needs some social functions, and rocket wants this to be an emergent game

[Ufer Phoenix 1]

I like this thread its brilliant and gives a lot of ideas for the standalone. TAKE MY BEANS

However.... I want you to think about this medical system, as a student studying game design I have concerns posed in the way a designer, like rocket would possibly have. Mainly the on the dot medical system as realistic as possible. this could cause some serious problems, and why would someone live with a broken leg or a missing leg if they could just get mauled by zombies and have their friend pick up their stuff? And for that matter how does anyone actually know surgery in order to heal the player it makes the game hard.

Sure they're brilliant ideas but it could over complicate gameplay significantly and not immerse its players making it a very Un-marketable game.

I hate to be the guy to shut it down and critisise but the medical system here will complicate things to much and make the game too hard for unskilled starting players. The game would need a significantly important rewards system in order to actually balance this out and make the game appealing to new players. I'm all for realism but it can go over the top.

Apart from that this is great and I especially like the notes idea. The notes/journal idea can even come with the time stamps of how many days your character has survived maybe? I have yearned to leave notes for other players since I play as a good survivor. Leading people to good loot places and things I may have hid for them.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Ufer Phoenix

[ruarz 739]

I like this thread its brilliant and gives a lot of ideas for the standalone. TAKE MY BEANS

However.... I want you to think about this medical system, as a student studying game design I have concerns posed in the way a designer, like rocket would possibly have. Mainly the on the dot medical system as realistic as possible. this could cause some serious problems, and why would someone live with a broken leg or a missing leg if they could just get mauled by zombies and have their friend pick up their stuff? And for that matter how does anyone actually know surgery in order to heal the player it makes the game hard.

Sure they're brilliant ideas but it could over complicate gameplay significantly and not immerse its players making it a very Un-marketable game.

I hate to be the guy to shut it down and critisise but the medical system here will complicate things to much and make the game too hard for unskilled starting players. The game would need a significantly important rewards system in order to actually balance this out and make the game appealing to new players. I'm all for realism but it can go over the top.

Apart from that this is great and I especially like the notes idea. The notes/journal idea can even come with the time stamps of how many days your character has survived maybe? I have yearned to leave notes for other players since I play as a good survivor. Leading people to good loot places and things I may have hid for them.

I completely get where you're coming from and many people have expressed a similar opinion. This I why I have put in a sidenote asking people take what individual ideas they will from the medical suggestion section, but of course nobody expects it to be fully implemented.

[Ufer Phoenix 1]

3. Collectibles! and other stuff to make another day in a postapocalyptic world worth fighting for. I really liked to collect cards, people could be interested also with magazines, some old newspapars maybe, focused on explaining what had happend. (didn`t found that on forum - bad luck i guess?). Collectibles could give some boosts as well. Like for an example, hunting magazines, some simple stuff.

I agree collectables would make the game alot more interesting I would find it fun at endgame to search for a collectible set of something eg collecting all the cards do I could make a deck of cards

[Bombolz (DayZ) 23]

The weather system is a quite big factor of the game. I'm just putting this out, do we want extreme weather conditions? Like snow - to the extent of blizzards (massively reduces vision) - that is if there will be snow in the game at all. But I would like to see more than just simple rain, e.g. if it does rain, I want it to have different levels, sprinkling, raining heavily....

And another thing while I'm throwing out suggestions, I should add in more unique loot spots, such as a dead body... even in the trash, the closet... roof or basement, but while saying this, loot should be found specific to their characteristics, e.g. a gun would most likely be found in military zones. And while on the topic of the military, would it be a good idea to have A.I. soldiers patrolling an area shooting any players and zombies on sight.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Bombolz

[Grayswandir 4]

keep in mind that if the game goes totally realistic

now that you mention realism...

Did rocket mention if they are going with switchable first/third person... Because, if they are going for realism, it would be a bit awkward to incorporate a 3rd person camera.

[apache25 133]

all of the ideas are good the only bad idea was the countryside of the united kingdom it would be almost exactly the same as chernarus or ireland chernobyl would be a good setting

[Riem 164]

First, apologies if any of these suggestions have been, well, suggested.

But nextly!

Sabotage.

It would add to the paranoia, and probably the variety, of gameplay were players able to make changes to lootable items, vehicles, or areas, in order to make them less effective/hazardous to use/explore.

A few examples.

1 - Poisoning consumables: Survival in the zombie apocalypse is a fight for resources, whether those are blood bags, food cans, water containers, or all other forms of medical and edibles. Obviously you're not going to be able to carry it all, and, while you could eat the excess to stave off hunger that much longer (And get fat, fatties.) Perhaps, using something you've found earlier, you'd be able to poison the item to have dastardly effects on other players. Perhaps small poisons or chemicals could be found for this purpose, and would instill a lessened set of stats for a player unlucky enough to eat it.

A more devious use for this would be the ability to foul medical items by introducing the same harmful substances, or even in the case of blood bags, by placing zombie fluids inside an otherwise life giving bag. Imagine! Johnny Nobeans gets low on health/blood, and someone gives him a transfusion. But alas! The blood was tainted with the malevolent intentions of another player, and instead turns him into a zombie! Perhaps not as severe, but you could see the implications.

Water and oil would also be able to be tainted like this.

To avoid not having any way to know if the item was tainted, perhaps in the description of the item it could say it smells off, or in blood bags perhaps the color of the fluids doesn't look right.

2 - Vehicles: I'm fairly sure most of us have been at some point run over by someone else with a car. It's a fairly messy and rather fatal experience, to be sure. Wouldn't it be fun to get back at those people who ran you down like so much roadkill? With a toolbox and the appropriate tool, you could puncture their gas tank, cut their brake lines, or otherwise foul the car. I don't suggest being able to harm the engines, because, while realistic to do so, it would be unrealistic, and likely very hard if implemented, to fix a car engine.

But the thought of some jerk off flying off the side of a cliff because you clipped their brakes appeals to me. Or someone trying to lift off a helicopter and wondering why the rotors won't spin up. That would also be amusing.

Some visual cues would be neat to implement, like being able to see a puddle of fluids from where the car/bike/chopper/etc was damaged.

Oh, yes. Also you could pop the tires on a pedal bike rather easily.

3 - Rigging explosives: Being able to control where loot is easily attainable should be an aspect of the game, whether it is with razor wire (when it gets fixed), or with a cleverly rigged grenade to a door handle. Say you know this building is frequented by players, and you want to make sure at least one of them isn't able to get the nice items inside. You have a grenade, and a bit of some sort of thread. Could be rope, string, etc. You attach the pin to the doorhandle via those fancy knots that all survivors would know, and poor Johnny Nobeans, fresh from his tainted blood induced death, gets an eyeful of shrapnel and explosions when he charges through the doorway. To a lessor extent, you could attach explosives, if you have them, to car door handles, bodies, items, and perhaps even set up tripwires.

Visual cues such as the ropes, explosives, or a small noise when the door is opened would be an interesting way for players to figure out they had a few moments to gtfo, though I must admit I'm rather short on ideas for that.

Also. Rigged explosives should be able to be defused, though there could be interesting ways to rig those explosives with more explosives. A bomb within a bomb, if you will.

4 - Fouling weapons: Not much of this would go on, but it would be interesting to say, jam an already loaded magazine or mess a silencer up to make it cone the noise towards the target, but I can't see many 'fair' uses of this, and as such won't spend nearly as much detail on it.

While some of these suggestions would be ripe for abuse and definitely would be amongst the crueler aspects of the game, they would be realistic, and would add just one more shade to the already paranoia colored world.

Feel free to expand on these if you would.

Edited September 21, 2012 by Riem

[Bombolz (DayZ) 23]

now that you mention realism...

Did rocket mention if they are going with switchable first/third person... Because, if they are going for realism, it would be a bit awkward to incorporate a 3rd person camera.

I'd like to keep the 3rd person.

[SiiriXX 159]

Im sure this has been suggested before but maybe player skinned zombies would be nice among the horde of random zombies.

Also I was thinking ..if there will still be medics and all that, maybe a medic skin? Or backpacks with a red cross symbol on them?

You probably will be a sitting duck but I am sure some people won't shoot a medic, I know I won't lol

[mercifulsimba@hotmail.com 0]

Qualities from the Game Reciever.

I loved that game the fact you had to revise everything, F pulled back the stock, eject mag, fill mag, etc. Maybe not on that scale though as it'd be hella difficult but I'd love to see my player take apart and clean his gun when at camp! And player attachments would be nice too! When drinking water, I'd love to see my character grab his flask and gulp from it properly. When checking inventory taking backpack off, all equipment things being visble on characters! Stuff like that!