Limited Camp Construction in the Wild

[Bakst 98]

So I was reading this thread just now http://dayzmod.com/f...ayer-run-towns/ and realized I'm against the idea of towns being capturable by players. Actually I think there's a better solution, namely camps. Let me first just say what I said in reply to the other post about player-run towns:

Imo the ability to dominate an entire town should be ruled out completely. The towns represent the remnants of civilized life and have been lost forever to the zeds. If a team of bandits wants to camp out in Elektro for 12 hours and call it their own, they can, but they will eventually leave, die, or get bored and log off =)

Instead, it'd be amazing if players could set up small camps in the wild (the woods are ideal for this) with groups of say 4-8 people. Imagine being able to set up a rudimentary fence, basic fortifications like a lookout tower or MG bunker, and a shared supply stash. Then add in a few booby traps to kill or maime any fool unlucky enough to stumble near the camp while it's unoccupied (group members offline or exploring).

I think that strikes a good balance in the gameplay, giving players a limited ability to alter the environment to their advantage without disrupting immersion or the overall game concept. I don't think it would clutter the map too badly, either: Even 50 camps spread out simultaneously across the map will be pretty scattered considering their size -- there would need to be a one-camp-per-person rule, i.e. you can't own/belong to more than one camp at a time. If you need to move camp, you can always pack up and take your stuff elsewhere, deciding to either leave the structures and traps or take em down and bring them along for the next camp (you may need help and/or a vehicle to carry all of that!).

Most of all, the ability to form a small group camp strengthens the whole human element of trust vs betrayal -- the part I personally find the most fun and fascinating of all. Will one guy betray the group and loot the camp? Maybe your new friend is an infiltrator from another camp, sent on a scouting/theft mission? Or else you have true friends, and together you can accomplish great things in this dangerous world...

...

I want to expand on this idea of player camps a bit more. Btw I'm imagining things in the present tense to make the narrative a little easier hehe

So the camps are limited in size and fairly small, say roughly the area of a large residence or two. They consist only of tents, no brick and mortar. You can set up camp anywhere, although obviously some places are clearly better than others. Most camps will end up deep in the woods.

Your supply stash is the first thing you set up using the good old tent. Now that you've picked a spot, there are many ways in which you can expand your camp, but they all involve extensive efforts to secure resources and scavenge for items in the zed and bandit-infested former settlements (which, alas, cannot ever be restored to human control). Wood from trees, scrap metal and other items (some new, some existing) are needed to build new structures.

Here's a brainstorm for some camp expansions -- I'll try to limit the list to suggestions that make sense (it's easy to get carried away!):

• Field clinic: A dedicated medical tent equipped with supplies and some sort of automatic blood transfusion device =D
  
• Camouflage tent canvas: Gather foliage from nearby trees & shrubs and attach them to your tents for added camouflage in the woods; I guess you need to find some adhesive to make that happen lol
  
• Sentry stand: A deer stand-like small wooden tower with a stairs/ladder and a semi-enclosed lookout post up top; needs plenty of wood, some nails and a hammer. Maybe you can reinforce the top with metal to make it slightly more bullet proof... dunno that might be a bit pointless. Maybe allow to build it into trees instead for additional cover?
  
• Wooden palisade: sharpened sticks poking diagonally out of the ground facing outwards around the camp; careless enemies will stumble into this trap and break their legs. Very painful indeed. Can be vaulted over.
  
• Bear traps: oh yeah. Disables and severely wounds the unlucky winner. Sometimes activated by stray animals (very rare). Remember where you place your own traps! ;)
  

That's it for now. Whaddayathink?

Edited July 30, 2012 by abxt

[ODoyleRulez 195]

Makes sense. I would just add that hammer and nails are pointless. We have toolkits already that should do the job.

Other than that seems solid.

[Nille (DayZ) 35]

I like it

[Bakst 98]

As a slightly off-topic PS, I think the role of radios should be greatly increased in the game. Radios should be easier to come by, and they should grant you the ability to broadcast messages on various open channels, as well as secure channels with your buddies. It would also be great if you could choose to either whisper, talk or shout in DC. Radios would help friendly camps broadcast themselves to stray players seeking engagement. Bandits would of course broadcast messages leading players into traps and ambushes hrhr. Frequency range is limited, so at long distances some signals would become fuzzy. There could be a lot of chatter on the open channels, but that would be cool/realistic imo, considering there are dozens of desperate survivors running around the peninsula =)

Maybe then folks would use less teamspeak & co and more in-game communication, which I think would be a great thing.

Edited July 30, 2012 by abxt

[ODoyleRulez 195]

Radios should be common loot on soldier zombies..

Also, Last I heard they are in game but do not actually function yet.

[Bakst 98]

ODoyle I second that. Military bases should also be littered with them here and there, and maybe military vehicles can have them occasionally too. It even makes sense to have a radio in the fire station & hospital. They shouldn't be too common I guess, but enough for some early in-game communication that doesn't get you instantly sniped o.O

I once found a GPS but no radio yet. That doesn't mean they don't exist tho

[Robolord 11]

Would make the game way more fun, but what do you mean with 1 base per person? What is the exact definition of a base? A tent, or a tower, or everything together?

[Bakst 98]

Robo I'd say one "camp" would consist of a player-pitched tent plus any optional add-ons such as camouflage, medical tent, etc. But now that I think about it, I don't see why the number of camps/tents should be limited per player, or at all. There are inherent logistical barriers to setting up ten different camps across the map anyway.

[PowerShell 2]

personally i think its an amazing idea and my team of three are creating a camp now :D

[Bakst 98]

personally i think its an amazing idea and my team of three are creating a camp now :D

Cool, yeah you can build "camps" right now but I feel like that functionality could be greatly expanded. Like I said, I'm pretty sure Rocket & the devs are working on it as we speak.