Horses

[SurvivorZ (DayZ) 18]

I want to put this one out there to the community for critique:

Horses. Yes horses.

What are horses?

A food source, a method of transportation, a companion, something to protect, something to mourn for when lost, an asset, a liability.

A horse in game would be all of these things plus more. They could spawn anywhere, be found anywhere and be as rare or common as rocket wants.

They would be client side, so your horse goes with you when you change servers.

Besides being a food source comparable to a cow, a horse would also provide a transport source given the player can find a saddle and reins. Then to keep the horse healthy it would require heaps of water and the opportunity to graze fields. It would need medical attention if injured, and could die if attacked.

Finally, the horse could carry another pack in addition to the one carried by the player. It would mostly be for horse related items.

I think this is both a achievable ( read: codable within the engine) and realistic. It would also provide a more Difficult but rewarding end game for experienced and perhaps bored players.

What do you guys think?

Edited August 3, 2012 by SurvivorZ

[skilit 24]

and we all travel west and make it wild... with them revolvers..

I wouldn't mind having them in game it would probably be a lot of fun

[alec167 62]

i like this idea its great! rocket take a huge bite out of that

[harken (DayZ) 57]

I'd support this idea as long as they were reasonably rare, not quite as rare as other vehicles, but rare enough and tricky to keep alive and healthy.

[simonjames (DayZ) 10]

not a fan ......true i love red dead redemption but for dayz - no

Just tighten up the vehicles already in game and maybe add a few more military vehicles

[ivan keska 39]

Well horses are a common animal I would think in areas around and in farms which Cherno has a lot of. But they would have to be added after zombies are coded to attack animals, that way if you put your horse in the wrong spot it gets eaten or you might see one running away from zombies.

Also remember horses have to be heavily trained to not panic so gun fire to close should spook them, but always the more exposed to it the less chance they panic. Also they shouldn't be able to just get ridden right away, since some horses aren't use to it thus would throw you off but can be walked around with until rideable

Also horse should transfer over to servers, but also should wonder off if left alone for to long unless tied to something (which can put it at risk to zombies and starving/dehydration).

Over all I would like to see this idea, because it's realistic, valid form of transport, and helps have more end game stuff.

[simonjames (DayZ) 10]

if we are talking realism here .....then you should be able to eat the horse if u get a bit peckish then ;D

[MinxinG 50]

I support this idea, horses is fairly common to have on a Rural Place like Chernarous, but it should be like our friends there said, you have to feed them, take care of them if you hit them on something, and zombies needs to be programmed to attack it.

[paul101 (DayZ) 16]

I like the idea, it would work really well with the sound/visual element dayZ has to it, horses clopping their feet is very loud, so you'd have to avoid pavement at all costs etc.

[0013 10]

Could be nice. They should only be able to drink on lake directly and the process should take around 45s - 1min... This will add some vulnerability while doing it and force the owner to protect it from anything

[SHOWTIME! 21]

Who needs a horse when you can ride around on a bike like a boss?

Seriously though, i think it would be cool to have a horse. Probably have to let them drink at ponds/lakes once in a while though.

[SurvivorZ (DayZ) 18]

Yeah drink at ponds, and graze at fields. Would create a dilemma where you have to expose yourself to keep the horse healthy. And yeah, you have to be able to kill and eat the horse - as a last resort or if your too lazy to find a saddle/ reins.

[suspectmammal 22]

this is a pretty good idea.

[0013 10]

The stamina of the horse could be added to... But I guess, by doing so, people will take the cars instead of the actual horse lol

[Roark92 90]

yep! lots of barns and farmland but no horses anywhere!

horses are a great idea, cars need to be suuuppperrr noisy and attract zeds like crazy. that alone would make the horse preferable in a lot of situations compared to cars, even if you have to feed, water, groom.

spawn some lances around the map... you thought it was bad when a sniper took aim at you while you were running through that field! wait 'til you see that cavalry charge headed your way and its 800m of open plains around you!

just kidding about the lance obviously, that would be hilariously inappropriate.

[Littleassassin2 73]

You has my beans as i think this would be a pretty cool option. It would also be good because it would follow you and it wouldn't be hoardable like vehicles

[scoffield77@gmail.com 192]

hopefully in the stand alone version, not Arma2 though