Smelling Makes Scents!

[Spork (DayZ) 4]

I think adding smell to the game similar to the sight and sound meters would be a good addition for more realism. Zeds will crave blood and be drawn to a player that is bleeding and wreaking of it. Also after running through the woods for hours, your bound to be drenched in sweat. Not to mention living in the forrest in survival mode without taking a shower or bath is bound to make some pretty stinky players. So here's what I have in mind:

Players have on survivor clothes when they spawn. I think clothes packages should be found slightly more abundantly, and need to be changed on occasion when they can't be cleaned.

Washing clothes. When a player has accumulated too much scent to sneak around a town without detection by zeds they should play out in the rain for some time, or jump in a pond while they fill their cantines. A good splash of some kind will reset the meter. This would give a little more purpose to playing during rainy conditions because as of now it's seems like a disadvantage (imo) to do so. Maybe also rolling and crawling on the ground should be able to cover the scents with dirt? I'm not as fond of this idea, but it's still a thought.

So how often would they need to clean? A reasonable amount... Idk about the rest of you, but if it's been 2 or 3 days camping, then you can smell someone nearby.

What causes stink? Blood, gutting animals, working with fuel (filling jerry cans/pour them in vehicles), eat/drink too much, running for long distances, etc. I had the idea too that perhaps certain buildings, like the hay in barns, or the maneur in dairy farms cause stink, but I'm less fond of this idea also.

So what do zeds do when they smell you? Just like when they see you or hear you... they hear that dinner bell a-ringin'. How do players smell you in PvP? The best idea I have so far is for the stinky player to have the sound of flies around him, with volume and frequency based on how stinky they are. A player who hasn't washed in a day might sound like a little buzz of a fly once in awhile. Someone who is fresh clean will sound normal (silent), and someone who hasn't showered for days will sound like a dead body, attracting nearby bandits and zeds! :\

Some things should cause temporary stink that can be washed out completely, and other things like getting shot up and loosing 8,000 blood all over yourself should cause perminant staining on the clothes. It would encourage players to keep a fresh change of clothes in their packs, and also loot clothes off dead bodies that are in better condition than the ones on their own backs. Who knows if this idea catches on, maybe DayZ could even add a new inventory item of soap, or something to wash clothes with... i dunno. I just thought of this the other day and thought it'd be great for realism. So, tell me what you stink about my idea?

Edited August 5, 2012 by Spork

[gobacktogo 29]

i like the title, not the idea.

[Icy954 9]

Well, how would this effect PvP?

Just because you crawled around in the dirt shouldn't mean you should have an aggro advantage.

[terrvik 2409]

When dogs are introduced I think it would be interesting to be able to Wash Off Blood in water sources to get rid of the scent that the dogs are following. Assuming that being able to tell your dog to track a scent is a feature that is enabled that is.

Also, rocket has mentioned that there might be some blood on your clothes (that would also dissapear if you wash it off I guess) if you loot a dead body which could be an indicator that you are leaving a scent trail.

[Spork (DayZ) 4]

PvP would be effected by being able to hear flies near players who dont wash or find changes of clothes every so often. I was thinking the dirt cover thing would be a short-term temporary fix by rolling with 'Q' and 'E', but would wear off quiclkly.

Here's a good example of what I had in mind. A player gets shot and leaves a trail of blood that the zombies follow. If the player runs back to their group then they're going to have to get himi a change of clothes or go somewhere where they can wash up completely, not just stop the bleeding.

Scenario 2, in a town you are in PvP combat, you hit your opponent with a silent weapon or from a distance. He's bleeding bad and there's a good amount of zombies around them. Now you can just wait and let the zeds have their meal and you get to run for safety while he's screaming on the ground in town.

Can you imagine coming across a player in the middle of a pond, that has set their gear on the shore because they don't want to ruin/lose it in the water, and you're standing there on the shore deciding to take it all or just laugh and move on?

@Terrorviktor, I didn't know about the dogs being introduced. That would make things even more interesting :)

Edited August 5, 2012 by Spork

[Rigor Mortis (DayZ) 141]

I think the 'smell meter' is a brilliant idea, and honestly I think it's necessary for a zombie survival game.

@Terrorviktor, dogs don't follow the scent of blood on you, they follow the trail of skin cells and hair you slough off as you move, and you can't wash off a smell to avoid blood hounds. Check out the Mythbuster episode on it -- I found it very interesting.

As for zombies, I think they should be able to smell people who are nearby, even if they have washed recently. Although we can't smell eachother on a normal basis, humans _do_ have a smell and we would smell quite different from rotting corpses. They say that zombies have reduced eyesight but improved sense of smell and hearing... I for one would like to see that reflected in DayZ.

As for PvP, I have a system that would be pretty easy to implement and would add a new dimension to the game. You could have a bar at the bottom of the screen with little pictographs of what you can currently smell...

For example, as you run through the forest, your smell bar shows an icon of a pine tree, but suddenly another item flashes on there of a zombie (rotting flesh). Obviously your character could smell if a zombie was nearby (or even a dead player would make the same smell). This could be an early warning system for zombies and would add a bit of realism.

Ideas for what the smell bar could possibly show:

- Exhaust fumes

- Gasoline

- Propane/Butane

- Zombies and/or rotting flesh

- Body Odor - people who have been out too long without washing

- Blood

- Camp Fire (even recently put out fires smell)

- Trees (cedar/pine)

I'm sure others could come up with more, but I'm just thinking this could add to the game.

Edited August 12, 2012 by Rigor Mortis

[joe_mcentire 2073]

this is basically a year old, however under the new circumstances and the fact that dean confirmed many little status-text messages ingame i thought this thread is worth to be raised from the dead...

I hereby declare it now relevant to SA

Edited June 25, 2013 by joe_mcentire

[icrush 18]

i like the title, not the idea.

I agree with some stuff Spork posted, it would add immersion to the game, exploring the smell to discover and realize the world around you, but affecting the PvP as you suggested is kind of too much.

Edited June 25, 2013 by icrush

[SpudmanWP 27]

How would a Zed smell anything considering their feral, infected (in addition the zombie aspect), gangrenous, crapping their own pants 24/7 nature?

If anything, the flies should be following them around.

[moodyplaya 0]

Yes after this we can invent smellavision!

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

Never noticed this topic before.

In my experience Bear Grylls-ing, animals can smell soap/detergent/deodorant on you too. So zeds would likely be the same.

Odourless soap isn't all that common. Most of it is perfumed.

Maybe proper odourless soap would be like the NVGs of the toiletries department?

[joe_mcentire 2073]

I think the 'smell meter' is a brilliant idea, and honestly I think it's necessary for a zombie survival game.

@Terrorviktor, dogs don't follow the scent of blood on you, they follow the trail of skin cells and hair you slough off as you move, and you can't wash off a smell to avoid blood hounds. Check out the Mythbuster episode on it -- I found it very interesting.

As for zombies, I think they should be able to smell people who are nearby, even if they have washed recently. Although we can't smell eachother on a normal basis, humans _do_ have a smell and we would smell quite different from rotting corpses. They say that zombies have reduced eyesight but improved sense of smell and hearing... I for one would like to see that reflected in DayZ.

As for PvP, I have a system that would be pretty easy to implement and would add a new dimension to the game. You could have a bar at the bottom of the screen with little pictographs of what you can currently smell...

For example, as you run through the forest, your smell bar shows an icon of a pine tree, but suddenly another item flashes on there of a zombie (rotting flesh). Obviously your character could smell if a zombie was nearby (or even a dead player would make the same smell). This could be an early warning system for zombies and would add a bit of realism.

Ideas for what the smell bar could possibly show:

- Exhaust fumes

- Gasoline

- Propane/Butane

- Zombies and/or rotting flesh

- Body Odor - people who have been out too long without washing

- Blood

- Camp Fire (even recently put out fires smell)

- Trees (cedar/pine)

I'm sure others could come up with more, but I'm just thinking this could add to the game.

actually i was more interested in that post..

how WE could perceive odors

[icrush 18]

ahw, i saw that post too, i tought that was suggest by OP, my mistake. That is the stuff i meant i would like to see ingame. Imagine that yellow message popping up when you're about to open a door to a bathroom/house saying that you smell rotting flesh/zombies or a camp fire/cooking meat, it surely would change your mind , you'd take a second tought . This suggestion is pretty damm good .

Edited June 25, 2013 by icrush

[joe_mcentire 2073]

how about a simple "head nodding" anmiation into the direction of the smell and a "sniff" sound sporadically, that would do the trick

Edited June 26, 2013 by joe_mcentire