Wilderness Survival Aspects

[Raged 187]

I'll highlight the key ideas if some are too busy to read all of this, if you do, thanks for reading even if you only want to flame :thumbsup:

Due recently to the graphical artifact and server issues, I've started to adapt and appreciate the mountain man life style. In the standalone I'd hope for more content within the wooded areas. A couple people have suggested more animals, skinning, etc. but the things rocket said about underground structures got me thinking. What about woodland construction? I'll quickly detail how I'd want the other features to work first, as it builds up to the construction idea.

Hunting: This isn't a hunting sim, but it is in fact as close to realism as you'll currently get. So with that in mind animals should follow similar detection/movement functions as the infected, but instead of running after you, they run away from you. Every "living" thing within the map (infected aside) needs to eat and drink to survive, and have its own way of going about it. A trickle down food chain if you will.

Bears, Wolf Packs, Cougars ---> Deer, Rabbits, Rodents Varieties, Birds ---> Trees, Plant life, Water Sources.

Each variety has its own unique uses (Rocket has spoken of a crafting system). It could range from pelts for clothing, to bones for tools/weapons. The possibilities are endless.

Crafting/Construction: Wood, pelts, bones, and twine, are the only materials needed for a true mountain man to make shelter. Be it a tent, a hammock, or a tree stand. I think DayZ wishes to instill the "Nowhere is safe" mentality, and what better way then forcing us to no longer expect safety within the woods, but to pray for it? When is the last time you saw a dead bear on the ground and the fact that you didn't kill it is what scares you? Being in someones sights just became a major possibility. Think the Ewok village on Endor, but probably a little bit smaller and more primitive. Unless you and your buddies make a run to the construction yard for actual lumber, smaller trees and fallen branches can make due temporarily. As with the animals the possibilities are endless depending on how "real" you want to get.

Thanks again to all who read, even if you don't like it ^_^

[Raged 187]

first and only bump. I'll let it die after this.

[Raventhorn 43]

I like the idea of woodland constructions. But can you destroy them if you find one?

Would love to see some sort of "food chain" in the game aswell :)

I hope Dean will add some of these aspects.

Cheers.

[Marshmallow (DayZ) 33]

Kudos for being considerate and highlighting your points. :beans:

I think those suggestions are great! The easiest of all those to implement is programming animals to run away from players. If anyone has ever hunted IRL, it's very difficult to approach any wild animal even with a gun and I'm sure wild animals would be more weary with zombies running about. To make the game more hardcore, I think cows and goats should be removed from the stand alone only because they typically don't have a tendency to flee from humans, so hunting them is like shooting fish in a barrel.

I also like your thoughts on constructing lean-tos or makeshift shelters in the woods to make the woods a less secure place.

[TheJackal_112 3]

Keen - great ideas

[Raged 187]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys :thumbsup:

[Raged 187]

I like the idea of woodland constructions. But can you destroy them if you find one?

If we're really trying to stick to realism then definitely. I personally would like to be able to chop any form of wood with my axe, be it a farmhouse wall or a support beam for a deer stand. Although in this game and with this community, I fear Chernarus would end up as a gigantic timber pile. :lol:

[GovMcFly 4]

I think this idea is great.

This may a bit farfetched part of it, but maybe some kind of farming/fishing ability too? Maybe I want to make a tree stand in the woods and grow my own food so I don't have to go into town.

This goes towards the "destructible" aspect, but if I make something out of wood, I want to be able to burn it down too. If I find someones house, I want to be able to burn it down as well.

Of course, I dunno if that is possible to do how it would work with the realism since you obiviously can't allow players to be able to start forest fires. I dunno how "realistic" it would be to be able to burn down a wooden house/deer stand but let the trees not burn ha. Would make for some great events to see a burning cabin in the distance and know people are running towards the smoke!

[m.w. vindicator 880]

I think player made forests fire would get out of control too fast (sorry for the pun). Hacking down trees would be cool. It should take awhile like real life so that it can't be spammed. Also your character could become hungrier from doing all that manual labor.

That would prevent the Lumber Mill scenario

[GovMcFly 4]

Oh I totally agree that forest fires should not be implemented. But if there are player made structures...I want to be able to burn them down ha. Just not sure if that would be possible. Would have to be some sturdy ass trees..

[midnight60 3]

Some good ideas, have some beans sir

[Raged 187]

Thanks for the positive feedback and beans guys, I was getting hungry

[noblebrutus@live.co.uk 26]

Sounds good... fishing and growing crops are also important I think. I'm not overly sure about having any form of hostile animal... and I'm not sure creating a operating food chain would be worth while.

If it could be implemented It'd be great I think.

[Raged 187]

Growing crops would be considered if the game wasn't in real-time. I'm a realism fan and that's the only problem I can foresee.

[tiresomehoopla 37]

It should take at least a minute, if not a minute and a half to cut down trees. Although this would prevent spamming of tree cutting, it would also make it more of a challenge to build the house, and make the player value the house more. Also, fire should propogate, but not past a 50 meter (maybe even a 20 meter) radius and it should be fairly hard to light a fire with just a match (Maybe a 1/4 chance it will light?)

[FizzyT 30]

Matches should also have a number of times you could actually use them.Not all matchboxes you pick up are brand new,some might only have 8 matches left,..some might be new and have 50.Make it random?

[mattyh1995 1]

I'd like this, it'd make playing in a group much more fun

[RobbL (DayZ) 26]

Why would survivors waste time and resources building flimsy houses when there are already thousands of habitable structures scattered throughout Chenarus? Obviously though I can understand building fortifications and simple structures like deer stands/watchtowers

[bad_mojo (DayZ) 1204]

Why would survivors waste time and resources building flimsy houses when there are already thousands of habitable structures scattered throughout Chenarus? Obviously though I can understand building fortifications and simple structures like deer stands/watchtowers

The lack of zombies trying to eat your brains.

The survivor group in the TV show The Walking Dead were sleeping in tents and an RV in the middle of the woods until the zombies stumbled onto them.

[Raged 187]

Why would survivors waste time and resources building flimsy houses when there are already thousands of habitable structures scattered throughout Chenarus? Obviously though I can understand building fortifications and simple structures like deer stands/watchtowers

Nobody said house, just tree stands and the like :P

but hell, I'm not going to tell anyone no.

[Dreygar (DayZ) 178]

I like this idea on steroids. I'm really disappointed at the no above ground construction (As of right now, maybe forever) As it would be really nice to carve your own settlement out in one of the large empty areas of the map.

I am all for schematics to be found throughout the game, which can be bartered/stolen and are bound to that person upon use, till death. It would really make people value their characters a little more if they had the knowledge to build so many things; would also make them valuable assets; as well as targets. The possibilities truly are endless, but I am not sure if technology can keep up. (Even though for the most part it was done 9 years ago)

As for growing crops, this has been touched on (well... all this has really) but everything about games are give and take. Might not be realistic, but crops could mature 2-3 days to a week. It's not instant, but it's not a 3 month+ process either. Just like you aren't going to physically hammer each nail to make your tree stand. It would be all about resource gathering, maybe a couple hour timer on building structures.

[georgiapeach 34]

i would also like to have a more sophisticated ecosystem.

cause the survival aspect of the game is quite fascinating, it would be great to have even more connectivity with the environment.

nothing against the food chain idea but to have a better effect it would need some kind of predator-prey model.

- a simple predator-prey model with the survivors as predators

part the map in areas (habitat, population) or calculate per animal.

you could have areas where animals are almost extinct (with a cap for the minimum) and areas where you would find game more easy (with a cap for maximum).

thus, if you want to hold out in the woods you might have to move areas from time to time or find a way to manage the game which is available.

same should be true for fishing.

there are models out there which could be simplified as much as needed and still it could create a better sense for the ecosystem you want to survive in.

- how about if the environment give you hints if it is a good area to hunt or not:

tracks, damaged plants, turds are good - decomposing animals and such are bad?

- more differentation of fauna and flora:

would love to see roe deers maybe even with the possibility to keep the antlers and put them on a car or backpack or whatever.

- some birds may make a noise (like jay or crow) when they see you moving or making too much noise (just bad luck that the jay gave away your position, while you were trying to sneak around the guys at the tent : )

- maybe even some predators like wolves, foxes or even a bear (not necessarily effecting the predator-prey model).

i do not want to turn dayz into "deer hunter Z" or something, just keep it simple.

but some small tweaks could have quite an effect in my relationship to the environment.

i enjoy the stuff which is in already and appreciate that it is possible at all to hunt and feed yourself from nature.

a big THANK YOU for that Rocket et al.

[HardCoreNinja7 24]

I really like this idea a lot! I also like how you related to Star Wars :lol:

[Raged 187]

I've been playing Assassin's Creed 3, and if the DayZ forest/hunting could be as well done as AC3's, I'll be pleased.

[apache25 133]

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great ideas but you should research the wildlife in russia because im fairly sure theres no cougers in russia