The Hatchet vs Crowbar Dilemma

[Thaif 40]

If we could cycle the weapons with F then what's stopping us from doing that to the hatchet, or for that matter to every weapon? Part of the authenticity of the DayZ experience is that the character actually perform actions such as holstering a pistol to switch a rifle to their hands from a shoulder sling. It is a military simulator game engine after all.

Reducing that to just a button tap takes away from the experience and reduces immersion and choice. In fast paced and stylized games like TF2 that's almost reguired to keep the game flowing, in this it re-enforces the experience.

That may have been the most overly elaborate answer to a single comment ever. At least I have that to my name if nothing else.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Thaif

[Dimes123 60]

my suggestion

Hatchet: as is

Crowbar: breaks into tent (we arent sleeping in them so i assume its just boxes in there)

Machete: harvest the pumpkins

they take the same slot so a player must choose which they want to play. encourages grouping for all around ability

[Frozen (DayZ) 144]

If we could cycle the weapons with F then what's stopping us from doing that to the hatchet, or for that matter to every weapon? Part of the authenticity of the DayZ experience is that the character actually perform actions such as holstering a pistol to switch a rifle to their hands from a shoulder sling. It is a military simulator game engine after all.

Reducing that to just a button tap takes away from the experience and reduces immersion and choice. In fast paced and stylized games like TF2 that's almost reguired to keep the game flowing, in this it re-enforces the experience.

That may have been the most overly elaborate answer to a single comment ever. At least I have that to my name if nothing else.

the current system is too clunky and somehow dumb. imagine yourself a survivor from dayz:

you stand in front of a loot pile with drawn primary, and you decided to swap to your secondary.your first thought will be "check loot pile", second one will be "swap to secondary" and only then you holster your primary weapon, and draw secondary. looks dumb, doesnt it?

i dont see any problem with changing weapons on key tap, but it should take time for your character to holster current weapon, and the draw a second one.

as for melee weapons, i think there should be a melee slot. because i dont see any reason not be able to do that.

1 you keep your primary weapon on your back via sling.

2 pistol is kept in your thigh holster

3 melee is kept on your belt

Edited August 3, 2012 by Frozen

[Thaif 40]

The system feels clunky and dumb because Arma wasn't made for DayZ. So that's what we get for an open alpha. We will likely get UI improvements down the line.

Should the animations still play when tapping a key to switch a weapon that would be fine. That's a playability and functionality issue/feature.

If we get a melee slot then what do we do to make the crowbar an option instead of a long pole shaped empty tin can? Make it a tool to break open locked containers? Why wouldn't a freaking axe be better for that? Better yet; shoot the lock.

Thanks again for the comments. This little proposal got way more attention than I though it would.

[dra6o0n 15]

Make crowbar has high 'leg breaking' potential when aimed at a player's or zombie's leg, so when you hit them they go down and become a easier target.

[Allimania 1]

i think the only chance needet is: make the crowbar more common, and the hatchet more rare.

the hatchet is supirior in every aspect, and is still used for other purposes. and it only takes up 1 backpack slot...

at the moment it is way to easy to get wood. why even spawn it in rural buildings. here is the solution: make the hatchet rare, so people actually have to pick up firewood in case they want to roast some beef..:)

[Thaif 40]

Other weapons also have a high leg breaking potential when they don't kill with one shot. You don't need to bust a knee cap with the hatchet or with a lee-einfield. With a crowbar and most pistols (after the recent Arma 1.62 patch) you need to aim for the head or the legs to make the most of it.

The hatchet probably also has a high leg breaking chance because of the 4500 damage it does. Except it instantly kills infected...time to move on to the human tests.

Edit:

Agreed. Hatchets are too common. Then again we are talking about a rural post-soviet setting so they should be somewhat common. Crowbars should be more common than hatchets though. It is a metal pole after all.

As for the ease of getting firewood...it should not be that hard to find wood. You see tons of chopped wood outside houses in every town but somehow you can't find a single axe or just take the ready chopped wood. Would not compute.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Thaif

[rev0 0]

I think the current solution is just unrealistic. When i have a rifle equipped my pistol is in its holster right? And when i have the pistol in my hands i shoulder the rifle. Then why cant i have the pistol in the holster, rifle shouldered and the hatchet in my hands? That just doesnt make sense.

Edited August 4, 2012 by rev0

[Thaif 40]

That is true, it is odd that you can't put a rifle on a shoulder sling and pull out an axe. If we could do that then there would still be less reason to have a crowbar than an axe.

It's entirely possible we will get the ability to shoulder a primary and keep a melee weapon in your hand and then switch between them. Question is why wouldn't you be able to do that with your secondary also? Seamlessly switch between a pistol and a crowbar. Seems even easier with a small and light firearm than a long and bulky rifle.

[b/s 0]

This might be old, but today I just realized how you can wear both hatched and crowbar without dropping your primary weapon. First of all you need a crowbar which you can then use by pressing F to switch between the fire modes and once you've got a crowbar you can also remove hatched from your toolbelt which will then give you an option to use your hatched through the F key as well. This is only possible once you got a crowbar as you can't remove hatched from your toolbelt otherwise if you have a primary weapon equipped.

[GovMcFly 4]

This might have been mentioned, but I would like the ability to throw a melee weapon (the hatchet). Would it make sense to do often? No. But I still want an option.

[WiFiN 55]

This one needs some attention. And beans.