X Marks the Spot - Barrying Your Loot

[FishInABarrel 1]

Decided to take a break from Waiting For Server Response: The Game for a moment to discuss an idea I had whilst in game that I think could be a neat feature for DayZ.

Your life expectancy is pretty damn short in this game. According to the main page it's 28 minutes (and that's stretching it a bit). You're going to die, there's no doubt about it and you're most certainly going to lose all your gear.

That is, unless you thought ahead and had yourself a back up plan. Which is why I think being able to hide secret caches of loot would be an interesting feature to add.

It would essentially be the same system that looting a body/back pack or checking your gear uses (i.e. roll mouse wheel/press G key), except the in-game model could be a mound of dirt. Nothing too obvious, but definitely noticeable if you were in close proximity and looking down at it.

Now the drawback to that, though, is eventually everyone will know what a "stash" looks like, given time, and it will no longer be as much of a hidden thing as just another source of loot to look for. Which is why it could maybe just not use an in-game model at all, and instead force you to rely on memory and map coordinates to find it again, therefore lowering it's chances of being rifled through or stolen.

Personally I think stashing stuff would fit nicely within the game's already punishing atmosphere. It just makes sense in a survival scenario.

I dunno, what do you guys think?

[wolfmat 2]

I like it.

Additional ideas:

Making a stash should need a shovel.

The stash should make the items deteriorate over time. Every item gets a "rotten" flag that reflects the fact that the loot went bad. Players can counteract this by cleaning stashed items periodically.

Stashes are per-server.

The amount of items in a stash is rather limited (like, 6 slots maybe).

[FishInABarrel 1]

Yeah, give another use for the trench tool, for sure. Thing is with the limited items per stash idea, what would stop you from just burying a bunch of 6 slot caches close to each other? Maybe have the trench tool deteriorate over time? o.O

[sindrla92@gmail.com 0]

I recall the life expectancy was around 4-5 hours not too long ago. And it seems about right to me still, since the learning curve is a bit steep I expect it'll eventually rise. As for burying loot I think the tents are fine for that purpose, with the danger of people finding it and looting it.

This adds to the tention and making it a hard choice, besides being a bandit and killing people who allways dig down their shit. Eventually they're gonna get sick of finding people with just beans on them.

Realisticly, you're not going to bury your shit because you expect to get killed, because you'd have no way to get to it after. So this seems like a mechanic that would make the mod seem more like trying to cater to the softcore crowd, making it easier to bounce back after death.

And as such, death would be less meaningful to you, and instead of a rage attack upon dying you merely let out a sigh and start walking to your stash when you respawn. This leads me to disagree with you that stashing stuff would fit with the mod's punishing atmosphere as it would do the exact oposite.

Now I don't see any mention of tents in your post and your proposal seems rather similar to the way they work, so I'll assume you don't know about them :P correct me if I'm wrong ;)

Edit: in response to the posts in the thread since I started writing, I do support the idea of food rotting, where canned beans etc wouldn't as fast as raw and cooked meat would.

[wolfmat 2]

Thing is with the limited items per stash idea' date=' what would stop you from just burying a bunch of 6 slot caches close to each other? Maybe have the trench tool deteriorate over time? o.O

[/quote']

I'm not sure... A stamina simulation via temperature, food and water, maybe. When you dig a hole, you start to sweat, so you are way more susceptible to weather, eventually leading to an infection. And you can't just dig forever because you need maybe 8x the water in the same timeframe, and 2x the food.

Edit: Also, digging should produce lots of noise, and take a lot of time (maybe 30 seconds; display a timer, make a progress meter, let the player continue a partially dug hole). The digging noise attracts zombies. So zombies spawn while you dig. It's like a minigame!

[FishInABarrel 1]

@Lowp1ng

Oh, I've known about tents for sure, and used them to boot. I guess I wanted something that allowed you to still horde things but also retain that panicky feeling should you die. In a way I guess, if done wrong, it could cater to the uninitiated by robbing them of that first "omg no way!" feeling of suddenly losing all you had. Which I think can still be retained, given the right parameters.

Something akin to what wolfmat is saying; limited space (small enough to where you'd have to choose between either a bit of food or one gun), and limited uses. That and it would require a map and general knowledge of your surroundings to ever find it again. So, in a way, it would make you pay more attention to land marks and consequently familiarize you with Chernarus a bit more.

Also, that bit about it fitting in with the games atmosphere was bad wording on my part. I more or less meant just hiding things in general while in a situation like that. In an apocalyptic world such as DayZ's, I think it fits within the theme.

Plus, it would give you yet another goal to achieve after respawning back on those blood stained, sandy beaches. :P

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@wolfmat

I like it all except the spawning zombies. I think it should just be whatever Zeds that are around or in the vicinity. If they hear you, then yeah, you'll be attacked. So, you'd have to be choosy where you start digging. Certainly no where near any villages, unless you clear them out first.

[wolfmat 2]

I like it all except the spawning zombies. I think it should just be whatever Zeds that are around or in the vicinity. If they hear you' date=' then yeah, you'll be attacked. So, you'd have to be choosy where you start digging. Certainly no where near any villages, unless you clear them out first.

[/quote']

Agreed; so digging should be like autofiring a CZ, right?

[FishInABarrel 1]

Yeah, or an Enfield, mayhaps. I really like the stamina/sweating mechanic. Gives it a drawback that will make you think before you stash. That, plus the 30 second animation you mentioned (with maybe a 15 second "break" point to continue from should you have to stop suddenly), could present some interesting choices for the player.

[sindrla92@gmail.com 0]

Very well, I see what you mean then. In any case I'm still against the idea of stashing stuff atleast in the format portrayed in this thread. I feel tents allready work in that regard if you hide them good enough in a remote location. I don't feel the need for any more mechanics that relieves the pain of dying.

[prospekt 8]

Not a bad idea.

But I think that you should not say that it should be used to get your stuff after respawn. I'd rather see that as a way to hide treasures.

I want to skiptrace bandits and find their treasure stash *_*

[Dunhagen 2]

Agreed, i want to stalk people and shoot them at their stash and take all their stuff!