THE Night is TOO DAMN DARK Thread. Others will be deleted etc.

[Kolchak (DayZ) 5]

There was a note some pages back' date=' but the extremists/complainers ignored it fully:

Realistically, unless you're in a cave, after some time in the dark your eyes will adjust.

...

It forces caution and patience, but integrating it as part of the game without heavy-handed "gaming" mechanics. In a game like this, OF COURSE there'd be issues with one's natural night vision. It'd increase the realism, allows those who work well in darkness to still do so, but doesn't prevent those more casual players from being able to enjoy the game.

[/quote']

This is probably the best suggestion so far, that and the flashlight tweaking, but I'd also like to add something. Night vision goggles are EXTREMELY hard on your eyes. Most people have trouble using them for more than 25 minutes, they tend to cause headaches, even migraines. And when used for more than a couple of hours, they can actually cause permanent damage to your eyes. That needs to be factored in too. In game, using NVG for more than 10 minutes should make your eyes blur a bit, only being able to get rid of the blur by not using them for a few minutes. And if you ignored it and just continually used them for an hour, it should screw your vision up until you die.

[aces 8]

Nobody's forcing you to play. Play during the day. Play on a daytime server. Problem solved?

Well no, that isn't problem solved, is it? God I hate idiots.

[Puppy (DayZ) 1]

Going to repost what i said in another thread on this subject

I know rocket is making this mod as an experiment or anti-game so its unlikly this will be changed' date=' however as someone who works in the industry in lighting, it'd be nice to be able to see realistically like you can at night (unless i have an owls eyes or something IRL)

you should ask bis for that. not rocket. there is eye adaptation in arma but it's not flawless.

i guess you clearly can't see a difference between addon, or as you call it "mod", and the base game.

I actually do know the difference considering I got into the industry through modding :) I also actually modified the eye adaptation of one game in a mod (shocked?), alot of engines these days allow you to tweak variables related to the HDR and its adaptation (if i was to work for a company who's engine didnt i'd probably be asking for it within a few days).

Never worked with the arma 2 engine so I guess it may not be possible/as easy with this engine like you suggest.

no need to try brush off my suggestions by insulting my intelligence next time ;).

[Itachi (DayZ) 0]

Yea you know I'm with everyone here. I'm really on both sides. I really love the hardcore aspect of the night forcing you to make use of the utility items and play even more carefully. But, at the same time lets face it guys it's really REALLY dark. At the borderline of being almost unplayable. It's real dark... like my monitor turned off is brighter dark. We should at least be able to see something..anything! Can't even make out what something is currently without having to tweak gamma settings.

[Brooklyn (DayZ) 0]

I'd say if you can make a certain area visible within a certain radius from the player as a circumference from the player say 5-10 ft across all sides that would be at least a whole lot better then absolute black, you keep both but give the user just enough to actually want to play at night and possibly find some flares so extend that visibility.

Here is the idea as a drawing:

[PineScentX 18]

[wictro 10]

moon cycle.

it's the darkest time of the month currently. In a day or two the moon will start to light up more and more.

just suck it and wait, you'll get your lighter nights soon.

ArmA engine has moon cycle, and when the moon is smallest, and when there are clouds + rain at night.. .. there is darkness.

-wic

[CouchColonel 0]

Personally, the nighttime does make it really effing difficult to play... But then again, this is off of the Arma II engine, and it's supposed to be a survival game in a terrible, terrible place. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy.

That being said, while I will play at night, most of my buddies won't, and losing my buddies while they go troll around for a foreign daylight server with the lowest possible ping, does suck some of the enjoyment out of the game.

I think the simplest fix would be to lighten the darkness just a tiny little bit. Seriously, an almost imperceptible amount! It'd pretty much be equal to your eyes adjusting to a pitch black night.

[andreamit 2]

I can live up with the hardcore aspect of the night, but seriously for GOD'S SAKE, if you intend to keep things as they are, do at least something about server waitings. In 6 hours I couldn't join once!!! only because the whole world wants to play with daylight, getting the servers insanely overloaded.

[ugotthewrongguy 0]

Please make it so eyes adjust atleast alittle bit. I don't want it to be daytime, but I've been on a night patrol(just a unit drill, not for combat) and in a field or sparse trees you can see after 15-20 minutes when your eyes adjust. Not great, but you can see enough. In the thick of the woods it felt pitch black however. Please allow us to see out in the open at night when its clear. Not great sight, but atleast enough to move around without nvgs or flashlights. Buildings and forest... keep'um dark!

[Taerdin 0]

Am I the only one who spawns with ten flares? I don't see the issue :P

[badbenson (DayZ) 38]

brooklyn said (shame on me i don't know how to quote ;D):

I'd say if you can make a certain area visible within a certain radius from the player as a circumference from the player say 5-10 ft across all sides that would be at least a whole lot better then absolute black, you keep both but give the user just enough to actually want to play at night and possibly find some flares so extend that visibility.

1. you start with 10 flares

2. a chemlight does exactly what you described. just throw one and pick it up. there you have your radius of light.

3. if that isn't enough pick up one of those flashlights you can find everywhere.

you people need to realize that those things aren't eyecandy. they are, combined with the darkness, genius design decisions which make the game even more interesting at night. it forces players to make difficult decisions.

i personally carry flares very rarely. if i use them then only to scout a place without actually going into the area they light up. all i need are chemlights.

and although it has been said before. nights CAN be that dark in real life. it's just a fact so get over it!

you just have to accept that dying is part of the game. and well since you don't actually die, just see it like this: what doesn't kill me makes me stronger. that's what makes us humans number one on this planet. our ability to adapt to bad conditions. to get good at this game you need to make mistakes and learn from them. if you don't like a challenge this is simply not the game for you.

[dacoroner 0]

I can live up with the hardcore aspect of the night' date=' but seriously for GOD'S SAKE, if you intend to keep things as they are, do at least something about server waitings. In 6 hours I couldn't join once!!! only because the whole world wants to play with daylight, getting the servers insanely overloaded.

[/quote']

This is probably one of the biggest problems with night. I've had a ton of fun at night just trying to figure out where I was (only to find a street sign and realize I'm not anywhere near when I thought I was) and suddenly the zombies can actually be dangerous instead of just being annoying.

But, I don't want to always play at night so yeah, it's annoying when everybody from across the world is on the same daytime servers. On the flip side, that means none of the "CoD players" are in the night games.

[cydmab 0]

Suggestion: set servers to June 23, 1995. I was fiddling around with various dates in the editor, and found that was a evening with a full moon all night long, and a fairly short night (since it's near the summer solstice). The full moon results in a graphically pleasing environment, while still presenting significantly distinct game play from daylight. Furthermore, the game is still quite playable (at least it was for me) when cloudy, presenting a third interesting environment.

I understand the desire to have fully dark nights for everyone. I would support them... if they were technically feasible. But because of the ability to set gamma preferences, there is no way to ensure that everyone will have darkness. One can personally handicap themselves by refusing to change the gamma, but this won't really result in an authentic experience, as one might very well find oneself randomly shot by another survivor who is abusing gamma. It is interesting to stumble about in the darkness, knowing that everyone else is stumbling about as well. But it's significantly less interesting to stumble about in the darkness, when virtually all other players can fairly easily see you and shoot you in safety, and knowing in the back of your mind you could level the playing field with a couple of clicks.

[Slamz 6]

Here's the real reason it should be changed:

If I go into my nVidia control panel and set the gamma up to about +2.5, it's bright as day. Granted the colors are basically black-and-white but with gamma that high there's plenty of shades of gray to distinguish a player at literally 300 meters and more, no problem.

This is way, way higher than the maximum in-game gamma setting (which says "2" but is nowhere near what I get from my nVidia control panel at gamma +2).

In effect, darkness of the current level creates a huge gulf between people who can and will use their video driver gamma settings and those who don't know how.

It also creates a gap between players simply based on their monitors. Some are naturally brighter than others. I have a dual monitor display and I can put the game in windowed mode, drag the window to cover both monitors and see the difference between them.

Now that I've realized the power of gamma settings, I can play just fine in darkness and in fact have no need for any of the light sources.

But it really shouldn't be that way.

[Stinglock 1]

!!NEWSFLASH!!!

The REAL REASON darkness should be changed to COD mode lighting is to because this guy has a nvidia driver that allows him to change it.

Incase you missed it, there's a HUUUGGEE GULF seperating the players who do have increased gamma and those that don't.

And no, it's not just the COD vs DAYZ suvivor gap we once thought existed!

MAKE THE NOISE. THE PEOPLE MUST HEAR THIS.

You should totally create a thread for.... oh wait, you can't :(

[PorkChop (DayZ) 0]

Yes the darkness needs to be addressed.

[Savage117 0]

I agree the darkness needs to be addressed in some way. I don’t understand why people are so hot on defending the current setup, its obvious some people just plain cant see without a light source, changing gamma and brightness does nothing and honestly shouldn’t have to be done just to make the game playable, and the only thing that they can see are stars.

None of you can deny that using flares frequently to navigate through this absolute darkness, is foolhardy at best, and absolute death at worst, how is that fun, seriously? To those who say "use glow-sticks" you have to find them first, and that means using flares, its unavoidable, and to a new player likely game breaking.

I started this mod at night and my ping was too high to be any fun on an EU server, so I stuck with it anyway and found that cranking my gamma and brightness up allowed to at least discern shapes of things around me, it looked ugly but I could play, but it felt like cheating because for other people the gamma brightness trick doesn’t work, iv got the hang of surviving in the dark, navigation is still a bitch, but I do fine, to a new or casual player its probably maddening.

In real life everybody has differences in night vision, some cant see a foot in front of them with anything less than full moon light while others can see in full moon light almost as if it was day. I personally can see the shape of my computer desk, my bed, and many other objects in my room with all light sources off and my window covered by a black coverlet at 1 am, I cant even see the horizon in this game when the moon isn’t out and the stars are the only thing in the sky, let alone the outline of a house or prowling zombie.

I’m not asking to make it super visible like most other games, just enough so that I can see the shape of things around me at a reasonable distance, say 5-10 feet without a personal light source, nothing more, I agree the night needs to still hold some mystery, otherwise it wouldn’t be fun and nerve wracking, like a horror game should be. But the current way of things is going to lose players further down the road when the mod comes out of alpha, and that means less players to co-operate with or steal from.

Here's an idea, maybe players having problems should take screen shots to show what they can and cannot see without a personal light source, and with reasonable graphics settings. Then maybe some of you that don’t have problems can see what all the fuss is about.

P.S. In my opinion the gamma+brightness thing is an exploit because it gives some players an unfair advantage while for others it doesn’t work.

[Crazyfist 0]

What's important is to keep the playing field level. Adjusting gamma in some control panel is clearly not fair since most people wont be doing it.

Now is it too dark? No. Unrealistically dark? Definitely not.

This is set in Russia, which is pretty much the same (environmentally speaking) as Finland, where I come from. It also looks like its very late summer, or early fall. During this time, at night you wont be able to see anything but the very lightest things, like the painting on roads, some buildings, etc. And in the forest? Completely black. I know this from annoying experiences from my army-time. Walking around, navigating at night using no-light discipline is extremely frustrating, because a lot of the time, it's literally PITCH BLACK.

But is this amount of realism good in this game? Hard to say. I'd say make the usual nights SLIGHTLY less dark, but have the occasional cloudy night that's as dark as the nights are now.

Sure, it's dark, but if you have any kind of adaptability in you you'll survive. Sticking to sides of roads at night works even better than in daytime. Just don't lose sight of the few landmarks you have. You can use flares/chemlights to illuminate the insides of buildings if you're unsure if there's loot there.

Rocket - the beauty of this game is the harsh reality of it. Natural selection, those who adapt, survive. Keep it that way. Don't turn it into a "everyone can get by even without trying" game.

[dale 11]

Well the easy way is to make a server side gamma setting, so everyone gets the same, you just set it at a slightly higher than normal setting such as 1.2 and then let everyone moan.

Eventually the moaning will stop and the game will continue with no problems.

[Oddball_E8 1]

Right, i see alot of comments in the way of "but you have 10 flares, use them" or "pick up a flashlight, theyre everywhere"...

But those are just suggestions on how to cope with the night darkness in the shape it is in now. Which is unrealisticly dark.

This game is supposedly trying to be realistic and this darkness is not realistic (despite the claims of some finn a few posts above me).

Ive been out in the swedish mountainranges far to the north more than one summer night. Ive been out during clear moonless nights, Full moon nights, and clouded rainy nights.

And only on the most clouded and rainy night during the darkest hours was it ever this dark.

And even then i could make out where i was putting my feet if i just concentrated on it and went slowly.

But in this game its as dark as the background on this site when you look at the ground. Even on a starlit night.

And thats just wrong.

[andreamit 2]

Rocket - the beauty of this game is the harsh reality of it. Natural selection' date=' those who adapt, survive. Keep it that way. Don't turn it into a "everyone can get by even without trying" game.

[/quote']

this is so true. please rocket read this.

I'm one of those guys of won't play on nighttime servers, but it's my problem really, I still have to find the will to venture at night, but as in a real apocalypse scenario only few people would dare going out at night and only on moon nights. I've been told that Arma uses the real moon system and that brighter now are expected to show up in june, so maybe I'll give it a try with time. But the hardcore "adapt or die" style of this game is what made it so popular so please don't change it in a user-friendly game.

I'm just disappointed because I can't play on daylight because servers are overloaded by people who won't play at night aswell.

[caelistas 1]

Euhm everyone can voice their opinion here but it is a FACT that 80% of all players are running towards "day cycle" servers, and are "server hopping" from region to region to be able to play in day mode.

So either leave night mode, and let the scrubs with NVG and daredevils play on them, or make it a bit brighter so you can see you own hands and feet at least.

[franciscojose 7]

Yep, its unrealisticly dark so please fix it. I mean... every time I play on night the game forces me to turn gamma and bright to max. Everyone does that. That means its a problem. Really.

Thank you.

Also: epic mod.

[badbenson (DayZ) 38]

sure you have to find chemlights before you can use them and sure it's hard but why do you think everyone spawns at the coast? it's really easy to find the next town/village following the coast to find a better light source than flares.

and actually arma 2 is perfectly capable of simulating brighter nights. but why do that and make flares and chems useless? it will make nights just less colourful than days and take all the challenge out of it.

if you respawn just equip yourself with all you need before leaving the coast. i mean i heard people saying on side chat they're totally lost so many times. and it always turned out to be their fault because they just ran in one direction without a compass or map.

this game isn't just a zombie shooter/PvP game. it has all aspects of survival which includes navigation. and that's what makes it so great. i'm already getting sick of all these servers having gps activated by default which basicly breaks the mod imho. this is based on a military simulator so stop complaining about playability or dark nights being unrealistic. it's just bs and you know it.

i personally play day AND night and have no problems with pings. it's just a weak argument (except for australians maybe).

and also the gamma thing is the least of dayz's problems when it comes to exploits.