"Sanity" like in Amnesia: Dark Descent

[Gravelsack 3]

Hi!

First off I want to say thanks to Rocket for making this game. I have been waiting for something like this forever. I love the unforgiving nature, and look forward to what it may become in the future.

My suggestion is to morph the "humanity" mechanic into something like the "sanity" mechanic in Amnesia: Dark Descent (another great survival horror game). In Amnesia, spending time in the dark, seeing monsters, or just standing still for too long cause you to slowly go insane. Your vision swims, you hallucinate, hear things, etc. Perhaps in DayZ you would have trouble aiming, have trouble running straight, etc.

If you included player killing in the list of things that cause you to lose "sanity" or "humanity" or whatever, it would go a long way to providing a punishment for overaggressive behavior without resorting to something artificial like a skin change.

Just my .02

-Gravelsack

[TheCoolestCat 1]

Most people (in my opinion) that have survived this far into the apocalypse, would likely be sociopaths. Therefore, they would not care at all about killing someone. They have had to kill people, maybe put down their own family members to save themselves, they have had to fight for supplies and run like hell from the zombies. Also, I put this somewhere else, but I think that your character's feelings should be your feelings, you are the character.

Also, Amnesia is completely different, you are 100% alone, see creepy shit all the time, have no fucking clue what is going on (until you find the notes you left for yourself) and shit is chasing you and you can't fight back.

Actually...that isn't too different. Nevermind, but the sociopath part of my argument still stands.

[Gravelsack 3]

Don't get me wrong, by the way. I don't think player killing should be punished too much. It's part of the game, after all.

How about this: We all start out poised on the precipice of insanity from the horrors we've endured. Killing another player pushes you over that edge and you feel a bloodlust that clouds your senses a small amount for a short period of time. This effect would stack so that the more players you kill in a row the more severe it is, and the longer it lasts. Perhaps at it's peak your character would break out into maniacal laughter.

Also, I find it pretty easy to sneak around the zombies as it is right now. If being around them for an extended period of time would affect your ability to sneak quietly (for example) it would necessitate taking breaks inside of buildings during scavenging trips, and makes you more vulnerable to attack from other players, thus increasing the risk factor and (for me) the fun level.

[TheCoolestCat 1]

Don't get me wrong' date=' by the way. I don't think player killing should be punished too much. It's part of the game, after all.

How about this: We all start out poised on the precipice of insanity from the horrors we've endured. Killing another player pushes you over that edge and you feel a bloodlust that clouds your senses a small amount for a short period of time. This effect would stack so that the more players you kill in a row the more severe it is, and the longer it lasts. Perhaps at it's peak your character would break out into maniacal laughter.

[/quote']

You are the character in this game, if you don't feel emotionally affected by anything in the game, pretend to. We don't need in-game features telling us how our character feels.

[Gravelsack 3]

If I just blew away 10 people with a sniper rifle, I'd be laughing maniacally, and feeling bloodlust, and probably shaking a bit. I'd like my character to represent in game the feelings I would be experiencing emotionally in real life.

[Kuro1n 1]

If I killed 10 people in real life to save my own skin I'm quite sure I wouldn't be laughing at all, at that point I would probably be quite numb and just keep killing in order to eat/live. If I would be unable to pass that limit I most likely would be dead already.

As we say in Sweden "Den enes död, den andres bröd" which roughly translates to:

"One man's death, another man's gain".

[UKA Harrysoon 67]

I had an idea about something similar just now while playing.

Last night I read a thread about how one guy doesn't see at all why he should team up with people when he can do everything himself.

The idea I had for sanity, which I also based my idea on from Amnesia, was as well as losing sanity when you sit in the dark, see zombies etc, but also from loneliness. The longer you're in the wilderness, the more sanity you lose from being alone. I don't think it should have too much of an impact on playing though, as I know there's plenty of people who are perfectly happy with going about it all lone ranger style, but I think as sanity levels drop then things such as hearing noises etc should be more apparent.

[Lady Kyrah 1109]

Killing peoples doesn't make you insane! Only those who later feel remorse for their actions end up having long lasting sequels, or every small and big game hunters in the world would suffer from it.

[beatenbyaphonebook 1]

I really love the idea of humanity being somewhat related to our mental state. Could you describe your idea a little bit more in detail? What is your definition of minor effects (gameplay-wise)?

[osme_oxys 9]

The rollback seems to have bumped this back up, but Ill throw a brick at it before it dies again.

As for the first bit, most people dont freak out because someone turned off the lights. In fact, many people find comfort in the darkness, as they cant be seen. And freaking out from zombies well... As far as story goes, were survivors, not people who woke up and saw people being attacked outside our bedroom windows. We would be used to it. And standing still... Well I dont go insane while sitting at my computer, now do I?

Killing hundreds of people for being sick for target practice is fine and makes you a very good person, though if you even consider killing a single person for survival, youre clearly too unstable to handle the blunt end of an unsharpened pencil.

[Gravelsack 3]

I assumed that this was dead and buried, and by all rights it should be, but here goes:

There is already a panic mechanic in game, this merely seeks to add to it.

It seems some people want to imagine that they are stone cold killers, whose minds are impervious to the strain of being in a zombie apocalypse, and THEN finding themselves washed up on a beach in godfuckknowswhere Russia, running through the woods at night being shot at by their fellow survivors.

You may not be afraid of the dark when you're sitting at your darkened computer area, but I can guarantee that would change if you were actually in the middle of a zombie infested town. That darkness would be pretty scary.

I, for one, would find a situation like this quite harrowing, even if I had survived previous zombie attacks. I guess I'm honest enough with myself to know that even though I like 'hardcore' video games, I am not a steely eyed killer, and my fragile psyche would break instantly upon seeing a zombie.

The effects I have in mind are similar to what already exists in game. For example, when you are low on blood you lose the ability to see color. When you are in pain, your hands shake.

My idea is that when sanity gets low, your vision distorts. This could be represented in game by applying a fish-eye lens effect, or causing your vision to swim (which already occurs when looking at distant trees, at least on my rig). The sound of your heart beating could become amplified, making it difficult to hear your surroundings. Really, there's a lot of effects that could be used, you just have to be creative.

I understand that to some this is "telling them how to feel", but that is really not the intent. It is intended to make the experience of looting the zombie infested towns more difficult, and to feel as scary to the player as it would to a real person in that situation.

That's all I got. Fire away.

[sucaru 0]

Firstly, I couldn't play Amnesia due to the vision bullshit it did. Made me motion sick. So, yeah. I personally think something like that because it removes the sense of immersion. I'M the character, hence, my character is controlled by my own mental abilities, not some code in the mod that simulates it for me.

I also think this would fall under punishing or unfairly rewarding specific playstyles, which Rocket said he'd never do. So, yeah.

[Gravelsack 3]

How exactly does it punish or reward anyone unfairly?

[tso 5]

I always thought rage virus was maybe infecting those kill anything and everything on the shore players but the sanity status sounds good to.

Although bandits will auto rage at the idea of having their kills disrupted.

I don't think it has to make vision swim or go as far as amnesia did but I'm sure rocket could take advantage of the idea.

[WilkyWilks 44]

This is already in the game. It's called first time user experience in Day Z.

Players know there are zombies, and other players out there that could potentially kill them. So they start out with caution. As their experiences expand their knowledge of the games mechanics, they fear the zombies less and less, and become more comfortable with their interactions with other players.

Adding an artificial system just annoys players and detracts from the experience. Am I the only person who wasn't surprised when the panicking noise was gone almost as soon as it appeared?

[tso 5]

Never really noticed.

I felt it somewhat immersive at times that people might hear my freaking out after just surviving zombies. But when sitting in a deer stand with 1 zombie chilling below me and freaking out it felt out of place...